Tortured, Tangled Hearts
by Chicaga
Summary: Alyssa and Marie, two sisters shipwrecked on their way to Jamaica are picked up by... Oh! Jack Sparrow of course! And guess what, one of them falls in love. JackOC
1. Shipwrecked

Okay peoples! This is 'Tortured, Tangled Hearts'! Thank you for taking the time to click on it! And if it was an accident, read it anyways!

This story is sorta a prequel to 'Unforgiven', but if you haven't read that, you don't really need to. In fact, I wouldn't even recommend it. It has major spoilers for this story.

If you _have_ read that one though, I hope you have forgotten the biggest ones.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PotC, any related characters, etc, etc. I'm doing this for fun. **

Enjoy.

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They say that when you're about to, or think you are about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. And as Alyssa passed out from exhaustion, this happened a second time.

The first time she had been lucky, and had found a piece of wreckage to grab onto after being thrown overboard. Now, she wasn't so sure.

It had been almost a day now that she and her older sister Marie were on their little makeshift boat, and things certainly weren't looking up.

The reality of the situation had begun to sink in for both of them. They were shipwrecked in the middle of the Caribbean with no necessities, and their chances of being found were grim.

"Wake up, wake up! I found something!" Alyssa opened her eyes, propping herself up on her elbows to get a better look at things. There was a longboat floating nearby, with a few disheveled trunks in it.

They managed to grab the side of the boat and climb in. It would certainly make a better craft than a piece of wood.

Two of the trunks were theirs, only a small percentage of what they had brought, and the other was filled with powder and shot. The later was useless to them, seeing as there were no guns, and even if they did they wouldn't know how to use them well.

The other two were almost as worthless, only containing a few dresses and some personal effects. No food whatsoever.

"We're going to die." Alyssa flopped backwards, leaning against the side.

"No were not. Someone will dome along to investigate the place."

"And how long will that take? Two, three weeks?" She looked up at her. "We have no food, no fresh water, and no shelter. By the time anyone finds this wreck, _if_ we are still alive, we'll have drifted too far away." She bent her head back over the side. "We're as good as dead." Marie didn't respond, choosing to rifle through the trunks instead.

"Didn't father teach you anything about what to do during something like this?"

"It never came up." Marie nodded, even though her sister couldn't see.

She had always been a rather positive person, but she knew Alyssa was right. There was no getting out of this one.

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Yes, short. But this is a prologue, so just you wait. And I know that there is no Jack yet, but he will show up in the next chapter.

Please review!

Chicaga


	2. Found, unfortunatley

Thanks for the reviews!

A-a-a-a-and here we go!

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The two lay sprawled out in the boat, eyes closed and limbs hanging over the sides.

Three days. Three, long, hot days with no food and no water. Wonderful.

Marie turned and adjusted the parasol so that it blocked the sun from her face. Those were probably the only things that had come in handy. Two umbrellas to block the sun. They kept them from burning, if nothing else.

It was certainly cooler now that they had gotten rid of those big dresses and corsets. Alyssa had been able to convince Marie that they were useless, and thrown them overboard. _Good riddance._

"Do you know how hard it is to sleep in this heat?" Marie sat up, fanning herself with her hand.

"Yes, in fact, I do. I happen to be in the same situation that you are at the moment."

"I know that. It was a rhetorical question."

"Rhetorical my ass." Marie turned to her, aghast.

"Alyssa!"

"Marie!" she squealed, matching her sister's tone. "I doubt that there's anyone here to care."

"Whether you like it or not, we are still ladies and we will act as such."

"What's the point? We're going to die out here." Marie was silent for a moment, and then gasped.

"No we're not." She whispered.

"What do you mean, 'no we're not'?"

"There's a ship! Over there!"

"You're delusional." Alyssa hauled herself up, and saw a large, black ship on the horizon.

"Good God, I'm delusional too." She tested her forehead and rubbed her eyes, but the ship was still there.

"We're saved!" Marie stood up and waved her arms around, causing the boat to tip precariously.

"Sit sit sit! You'll drown us before they'll be able to see us!"

"What do we do to get their attention then?"

"Scream?" Alyssa suggested. They looked at each other for a moment before screaming their lungs out.

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"Ye hear that?" Gibbs asked, approaching his captain. Jack's eyebrows furrowed, and he listened intently. The crew was all silent, also trying to listen.

"Sounds like… screaming." Someone said quietly.

"Screaming! I told ye this place was cursed Jack! Sirens, banshees, sea monsters! 'Cursed waters' I said! But no-o-o-o, ye said-" Jack clamped his hand over his first mate's mouth.

"This place is not cursed, savvy?" He pulled out his spyglass, scanning the water. There was nothing to the left of the ship, but on the right there was what appeared to be a boat. "Starboard turn men! Quickly!"

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"It saw us! It's coming over here!" Alyssa turned and hugged her sister.

"Oh thank God." Marie stiffened. "What are we going to do?" Alyssa looked at her.

"What do mean?"

"Well, we're not exactly decent." The older sister blushed and looked down at herself. They were both wearing just their underdresses.

"I think they'll understand." They both looked over at the approaching ship.

"I hope so."

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In a matter of minutes, the longboat was close enough for them to board. Jack looked over the rail keenly.

"We'll lower a rope down for you two ladies. Don't fret!" he said snobbishly, imitating a Navy captain. This was going to be fun.

The two women hauled themselves over the rail, gasping for air. Jack approached carefully, standing in front of them.

One of them, a redhead, looked up, and her green eyes widened. She nudged the other woman, who looked up with the same expression.

"P…pirates…" the second woman stuttered quietly, her eyes fixed on the crew.

"Oh damn."

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There we go, chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed it; please let me know!

Chicaga


	3. Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 3! And it's long too! GO ME!

* * *

_I see, a bad moon risin'_

_I see, trouble on the way_

_I see, earthquakes and lightenin'_

_I see, a bad time today._

_Bad Moon Rising - CCR_

_

* * *

_

"'Ello ladies." Jack said, smirking at the two frightened women huddling over by the rail. "Welcome to the Black Pearl."

The two didn't move, making no indication that they even heard. Jack leaned towards them to repeat, but the redhead promptly slapped him. His head jerked backwards, and his hand rubbed the now red skin.

"You're the feisty one I see." He muttered, though still smiling slightly. "Good to know. Mr. Gibbs, arrange to have these two lovely ladies' things brought up." he winked at the two, and the one who slapped him scowled.

"Well, ye two best be followin' me." He turned to go, but they still didn't move. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the arm of the red head. She struggled and started yelling and cursing.

"You've got quite a mouth on ya girly." The brunette got up to follow them, trying to get his arm off of the other.

* * *

Marie struggled with the man's hand, but he was too strong. It kept dragging them towards his cabin. She gave up and ended up following behind them meekly. 

"Traitor!" She heard Alyssa hiss under her breath, still struggling. The man dragging them away either didn't notice them talking, or didn't care.

"I don't think you should fight anymore. He might get mad at you." She whispered back. Alyssa still didn't stop.

"So what should I do, let him take me in there and… you know!"

"I don't think he would if I'm there. And he seems to want both of us to come…" A door slammed, breaking up the conversation. The man stood looking at them, arms crossed over his chest and still smirking.

"What do you want with us?" Marie asked harshly, causing the man's grin to widen.

"I don't want anything with ye… yet…" He said, eyeing them both. Alyssa raised her hand to slap him again, and he looked up. "Sit."

He motioned to two chairs, and went to sit in another behind a desk, his feet propped up on the table. Marie did as he said, but Alyssa just stood there, glaring at him.

"Suit yourself. Now, may I ask as to the ill-fated situation that brought you into such unfortunate circumstances as to find yourself aboard the most infamous pirate ship in the entire Caribbean?" the two paused, trying to figure out what he said.

"How'd ye find yourselves in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean?" he repeated.

"Oh. We were-" Marie began, but Alyssa's hand clamped over her mouth.

"Why should you want to know?" She spat bitterly.

"Seeing as you're on my ship after I just saved ye from certain death, I would think I would have the right to know." He stated matter-of-factly. Alyssa removed her hand, letting her sister speak.

"As I was saying, we were shipwrecked in that storm that just passed."

"No, really?" the man stated sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I was hoping to have more of an explanation than that luv."

"Don't call my sister that!" Alyssa exclaimed. The man's dark eyes darted between the two.

"Sisters eh? Ye two don't look very much alike."

"That is completely off topic." Alyssa crossed her arms over her chest. The man rolled his eyes.

"Well can I ask ye your names then?" his gaze flicked over to her. "Or would that be too 'off topic'?" the redhead stayed quiet.

"I'm Marie. This is Alyssa."

"Ye got last names?"

"None that you need to know." Alyssa spat. Her sister sighed. "Fine. Thurston."

"Alyssa and Marie Thurston." The man said, as if testing the names. The two nodded.

"And may we inquire as to your name?" Marie asked.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, at your service." The man said proudly, tipping his head slightly. Their faces remained blank, causing him to frown. "Haven't heard of me eh?"

"I did once. But that was a long time ago." Alyssa said, sitting down. Sparrow frowned even more.

"What is it that you're planning to do with us Mr. Sparrow?" Marie asked after a short pause.

"_Captain_ Sparrow. Don't forget the Captain."

"Yes yes, whatever. Just answer the question."

"Well, I was thinking about keeping ye on the ship."

"Hell no!" Alyssa stood up again.

"I could just dump your sorry asses back in that little boat and let you drift away." her jaw dropped.

"No need to be so rash captain." Marie said calmly, trying to get her sister to act the same. "If we were to stay, what would we do?"

"I don' know. Work."

"What kind of work?" Alyssa asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Can either of ye cook?" They both shook their heads. "Navigate?" they shook their heads again. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Have either of ye even been on a ship before?"

"I've been sailing since I was 8." Alyssa piped up proudly.

"But did ye do any work?"

"Well, no not really. But I watched the crew work." She blushed.

"Not exactly the same luv."

"Don't call me that."

"I suppose… I could clean. I sew a little if that helps. I'm afraid I don't know much else about ships." Jack nodded in satisfaction before turning towards Alyssa.

"What about you?"

"I can learn whatever I guess." She shrugged.

"Excellent!" He stood. "We have an accord then?" He held out his hand to them. Both looked at it like it was covered in something nasty. "Fine then." He pulled his hand back and went to leave.

"Well don't we get a cabin or something?"

"Oh yes. Make yourselves comfy."

"We are not staying here!" Jack stopped to consider this. Two stubborn girls (one being very fond of slapping him), Jack, one bed. _Stupid safety in numbers…_

"You're lucky there's two of ye. Follow me." He led them outside and down below deck. They stopped at a door and Jack unlocked it.

"There ye go. Your stuff should be down in a minute." He turned on his heel and left.

Alyssa and Marie looked around the tiny room. It was no more than a box with a few hammocks in it.

"Well this is great." Alyssa said as she sat down on one of them.

"Could be worse." Marie sat across from her. "We could still be stuck in that boat."

"I'm not sure if that is worse." Marie smiled and laid down.

"So, I guess we're the sisters Thurston now?"

"Yep."

"It's kind of fun, having aliases." There was a short pause. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'll come up with something. We won't be here much longer, that's for sure."

There was a knock at the door, and two gruff men came in carrying their trunks. They came and went without a word.

"Well, they seem friendly."

"I wonder if we could get a key to this room… I don't like the thought of having them so close by…" Alyssa nodded.

She didn't care for this situation one bit.

* * *

There we go, long chapter. Woo! 

Review please!

Chicaga


	4. Dark as the Dungeon

_Where it's dark as the dungeon,_

_Damp as the dew; _

_Danger is double, _

_Pleasures are few;_

_Where the rain never falls,_

_And the sun never shines,_

_It's as dark as the dungeon,_

_Deep down in the mines…_

_Dark as the Dungeon – Johnny Cash

* * *

_

The two walked out on deck. They felt very out of place, being the only women, and also wearing the only clothes they had, big fancy dresses.

Jack stood at the helm watching them.

"That will never do." He said, looking at what they were wearing. "Follow me." He motioned them back into his cabin, where he began digging through a bureau in the corner.

Pulling out some clothes, he threw them back to the women over his shoulder.

"Those should work until we can get ye some of your own." Marie unfolded the clothes, her eyes widening.

"Br…britches?"

"Aye, br… britches. Ye certainly can't work in what you're wearing." His eyes scanned over her dress.

Alyssa was actually rather happy about this. She always wanted to know what it was like to wear pants. She grabbed her sister's hand and led her back out through the doors.

"Come on! I wanna try these on!"

* * *

They remerged from below deck twenty minutes later. It hadn't taken that long to dress, but it was trying to get Marie out of the room that proved difficult. 

The clothes were rather baggy, but that didn't bother them much. Alyssa couldn't believe the freedom. She skipped and twirled around without getting her legs caught in layers of petticoats.

Marie on the other hand, walked slowly and carefully, her arms wrapped around herself.

"Oh live a little Marie! We're on a pirate ship!"

"That's what I'm afraid of…" She muttered.

"And you're gonna die of heat wearing that you know." Her sister had chosen to wear a thick coat over top of her new clothes, insisting to be covered up. _Always the proper one…_

"I don't care. I'm not letting anyone see me like this."

"Who do you think is going to care? A bunch of pirates? There's no one here to tell mother about this." Marie's face dropped even more, and Alyssa sighed. "Look, you'll see her again. I promise." She gave a slight smile.

Jack noticed them a smiled.

"Much better!" he turned towards the crew, calling them to attention. "Lads, meet Alyssa and Marie Thurston. They'll be joining us for awhile."

"A short while" Alyssa muttered under her breath.

"I heard that. Now, I don't think the ladies will be appreciating any… harassment, and neither will I, so back off."

There was a chorus of 'ayes' and Jack nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Mr. Gibbs, find some work for them to do." They were approached by a short old man, who led them silently down to the lower deck. He pointed to a bucket of water and some brushes and scurried away.

The two girls stared at the objects lying in front of them.

"We're supposed to…clean?" Marie said slowly.

"No bloody way." Alyssa turned to Jack, who shrugged.

"I guess we should get to work."

* * *

Marie tossed the brush back into the water, looking at her hands. To think that only an hour ago they were so smooth and perfect; not sore and covered in blisters like they were now. What a difference a little time could make. 

But she was almost proud of them. That was the first real work she had done in her whole life. She found a new respect for the maids who worked in their house, and would thank them personally as soon as she could.

If she ever did go back home.

She pushed the thought out of her head. Of course they would go home! Alyssa certainly wouldn't let them stay longer than a few weeks, if that.

It was already obvious that she hated it here. She glared at anyone who came within a twelve foot radius of them, regardless of who they were.

Just as she thought that the Captain walked past.

"Hey! I just cleaned that!" Alyssa shouted after him. He turned his head to look at the spot where he just passed through, now smudged with the dirt from his boots.

"Clean it again then." He shrugged and kept on walking.

"You dirty it up, you clean it!" She threw her brush at him, barely missing his head. It landed with a thud in front of him.

There was deathly silence as everyone looked at the brush, then her, then Jack.

"Run that past me again?" he said through clenched teeth.

"You clean it." She said defiantly.

"I don't think ye understand the workings of a ship Ms. Thurston." He looked between the two. "Younger, Ms. Thurston." He took a few steps towards her. "As Captain of this fine vessel, it is my job to tell you what to do. And, as guest on _my_ ship, it is your job to do what I tell ye to do without complaint or else ye'll find yourself marooned. Would ye like that?" She opened her mouth to respond, but he was too quick. "No? Then I suggest that ye stop." He turned on his heel to leave.

"Maybe I want you to leave me on some island! It's better than being stuck here with you!" he stopped again, sighing.

"Well, seeing as we are nowhere near a suitable island to maroon ye on, you'll have to settle for the brig." He grabbed her by the arm, dragging her down below deck.

Marie looked up in fear. He seemed to remember her then and looked back at her.

"Would ye like to come too?" She shook her head fearfully. "Good." He continued dragging her down. "One is enough trouble as it is."

* * *

"Must you drag me everywhere!?" Alyssa yelled at him, struggling to get free. 

"Would you come if I didn't?" She thought about this for a moment before nodding. He let go of her arm, and she sprinted back to the stairs. He grabbed her long sleeve, pulling her back to him. "Thank ye for proving me point."

He continued to drag her to the cell, and locked her in.

"Have fun." He quipped, heading back upstairs. "Oh, and there's a small leak. Hope ye don't mind."

"What the hell?" she muttered to herself. Alyssa looked down, finding that her feet were about half an inch deep in water. There were no benches, no nothing. Just wet ground. She growled at the situation, rattling the bars. "I'll get you for this Sparrow!"

* * *

There we go, another chapter just for you lovely readers. I hope you enjoyed it.

Chicaga


	5. I always get what I want

_Gimme what I want, _

_Everything I don't got,_

_Get me what I want, _

_Cause I'm a big shot, _

_So give me what I want, _

_I always get what I want,_

_You don't wanna see me when _

_I don't get what I want, _

_That's not what you want_

_I Always Get What I Want – Avril Lavigne

* * *

_

After about three hours of sitting in a dark, wet cell, Jack finally came down and let her out. She stood, finding her pants were soaked, clinging to her legs.

"What are you staring at?" She growled, wrapping her arms around herself. His eyes snapped up to her face, smirking.

"Oh nothing luv."

"Don't call me luv." She paused, her voice softening "And can you get me some dry clothes?"

"Must I?" She glared at him. "Fine." He led her back up on deck, gaining a few stares from the crew, and grabbed her a new pair of pants from his cabin.

She took them, and waited for him to leave. But he just stood there, staring back at her.

"I didn't ask for these just so I could hold them you know." She pointed at the pants, which she was holding in front of her.

"Aye, I know." He shifted on his feet, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So, why are you still here?"

"Because ye aren't just going to hold them." The comment made him smirk, proud of his own little come back.

"Get out." She hissed dangerously.

"Not until you use the magic word." She rolled her eyes.

"Get out please."

"I'm a pirate. Manners don't have much effect on me." He said tiredly, inspecting his nails.

"Get out _now_, before I have to slap you from here to Spain." She yelled, raising her hand.

"There's a good girl." He still didn't move.

"I thought you said you'd leave once I said the magic word!"

"I never said _when_ I would leave after you said it." He paused. "It's not like I'm not gonna see ye eventually."

"Excuse me?" She scoffed. He took a few steps forward till only a foot separated them

"I always get what I want lass. It's a fact." He whispered, his rum soaked breath hot on her face. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him in disgust.

"You're a sick and twisted beast, you know that?" Jack smirked.

"So I've been told."

"Look, I'm not going to change if you're in here, so you're just wasting you time."

"Fine. But ye remember what I said." He tapped his finger on her nose, taking a few steps back. Her hand rubbed her nose, trying to erase any proof that he'd touched her.

"Yeah yeah, you always get what you want. Psh." She rolled her eyes as he left.

Alyssa was about to pull off her shirt when she looked back at the door. Putting it back on, she snuck over and opened it. Jack was no where in sight. She let out a relieved sigh and went back to change.

* * *

After successfully getting rid of her wet clothes, she found Marie. She was standing by the rail with another man, a sail in between them.

"Hello." Alyssa said coldly, looking at the man. He glanced up, and a look of fear passed over his face.

"Um, Alyssa, this is Mr. Robert Hargrove. He was helping me how to sew these up." Marie said carefully, trying to keep her sister calm.

"Nice to make your acquaintance Miss." He stuck out his hand to her.

"Not till I know you better Mr. Hargrove." She spat. He pulled back his hand and scurried away.

"Oh well good job!" Marie hissed back at her.

"What? I don't trust him."

"You don't trust anyone!"

"And with good reason!" She turned around to face the water. "I'm just trying to stay out of trouble."

"Oh, of course. Because throwing a brush at the Captain won't get you in trouble, but being friendly will."

"Touché" She smiled wryly.

Marie spent the rest of the day trying to teach her sister how to sew. It wasn't going very well though. Alyssa had never liked sewing.

After working and a very uncomfortable and completely uncivilized dinner, they were allowed to go back to their cabin.

"Ugh. I have never worked so hard in my life!" Marie groaned, positioning herself on her hammock so she wouldn't fall off.

"We've never _worked_ in our lives." Alyssa said, sitting on hers. There was a moment of silence while they both tried to get comfortable.

"So-o-o," Marie started, turning towards her. "What do you think of Captain Sparrow?"

"He's a disgusting, arrogant, uncouth pirate. I don't trust him any farther than I can throw him." Alyssa scoffed.

"I don't know… There was a little something going on with you and-"

"Just what are you implying Marie?" She turned carefully so as not to fall out.

"I wasn't implying anything. Just pointing out the obvious." She muttered.

"How dare you even think that! Shame!" Alyssa shot back, half laughing, half serious.

"Still think you're gonna get to like him. And I mean _like_ like him."

"If I ever, ever, ever grow to like him _that_ way, may lightening strike me dead." She laid her head back down on the hammock.

"Whoa. That's a little…harsh."

"Yeah, so?" She opened an eye to look at her sister.

"Never mind." Marie muttered, turning over. There was silence as both thought over what she had said.

"What… do you think about him?" Alyssa asked quietly.

"I don't know. He seems interesting." She paused. "Certainly more exciting than any of the men we've ever met."

"So true." Her sister chuckled.

"And he's pretty nice too. If you don't throw a brush at him." Marie teased.

"Yeah."

"He seems like he's a good man, deep down. Certainly nicer than I would have expected."

"Yeah."

"And he's pretty handsome too."

"Yeah… WAIT, WHAT!?!" Marie laughed hysterically. That always worked. "No, no, I didn't mean that! It was a mistake! I wasn't listening!"

Marie turned over and pretended to be asleep, throwing in a fake snore for good measure.

"I don't think he's handsome, I was… are you listening? I didn't mean it!"

"Shh, I'm trying to sleep." The elder whispered.

"Oh fine, be that way."

Alyssa tried to fall asleep, but she couldn't. There was no way she was going to fall for him. No way.

* * *

Okay, so I'm really sorry if this chapter was kinda bad. Also, I have mid term exams for the next two weeks, so I won't be able to go online. This means that there will be no new chapters, and no replies for a looong time. Really sorry for that.

Please review!

Chicaga


	6. The most annoying man on earth

Rejoice, oh readers, for I have returned! Midterms are finito (thank God) and I am free for four glorious days! Wee! Oh, and I went to go see Billy Talent live; they are solid performers. Totally awesome.

SO, without further ado, le chapter!

* * *

It's amazing what a week or two on a ship with an insane, drunken Captain, and an equally strange crew, in the middle of the ocean can do to one's mind.

Alyssa was trying desperately not to scream and slap a certain someone. He seemed to find a certain joy in tormenting her.

She was certainly jealous of her sister, not a new feeling, but a hated one. Marie was having no problems getting adjusted. She got along with the crew, and found most of the work she was given easy.

"What's so interesting over here?" Jack asked casually, leaning against the railing beside her. Alyssa rolled her eyes and moved away, he followed. This continued until there was no railing left.

"Will you just leave me alone?!" She groaned in exasperation. He smirked and shook his head. "God I'm not going to make it another week." She muttered, burying her face in her hands.

"What, till ye give in to my amazingly good looks and charm? I agree." His grin widened.

"No, until I end up throwing a large, heavy object at you." Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Ye wouldn't do that to ol' Jack, would ye?"

"Don't doubt me Sparrow. There are many things I can hurt you with around here."

"Well, seeing as I have had my fill of threats for the moment, let's move on to a different subject." He paused. "How ye liking it here?"

"I thought you said you were tired of insults." She shot back, the corners of her mouth turning up in a small smile.

"Oh well ha ha, Miss comedian."

"Thank you, now go away." Jack reluctantly left, not feeling like arguing anymore. It was all a matter of time really. He would wear her down, bit by bit. It would probably take longer than expected, considering her stubbornness.

But he would get to her.

* * *

"What was that?" Marie asked, resuming Jack's previous position.

"That was the most annoying man off all time." Alyssa replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ah, I see."

"What did I do? Why is he trying to drive me insane?" The elder thought a moment before responding.

"I have no clue."

"Oh, you're a big help." There was a pause. "I though for sure that you would be going after you."

"Why?"

"Well, you know. At home everyone was trying to court you." She stopped again. "Not that I'm really complaining. Never liked that sort of thing. But you get it, right?" Marie nodded solemnly. She remembered.

"It's different out here. Maybe he has… different expectations?"

"Sure, we'll go with that."

* * *

Okay, so this was extremely short, I'm sorry. I had some writer's block and this was all I could force out.

I promise that the next will be longer.

Chicaga


	7. Half an hour

Okay, so I tried to make this chapter as long as I could to make up for the last one. Enjoy!

* * *

"We need to get out of here." Alyssa said, pacing the small cabin. 

"Can you stop that already? It's making me seasick." Marie was lying on her hammock, trying not to focus on the rocking of the ship. She would never get used to sailing.

Alyssa had an easier time, seeing as she'd been on ships so long. Their mother never had any qualms about letting her go.

"Sorry." She stopped a moment, before starting up again. "What we need is a plan."

"No, really?" Marie asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, really." She went and sat on her own hammock. "The way I see it, we have two options: try and find a way to get off this ship, whether that be running away at the next port or something of the sort, or," She smiled wickedly, "We could annoy Jack to the point of insanity. We would bug him so much that he would drop us off at the next port!"

Alyssa leaned back on the wall, quite happy with her plans.

"Okay, pretty good. But there are three fundamental flaws with the last one." She sat up and began counting them down on her fingers. "One: he will retaliate. Two: if we annoy him that much, he might end up shooting us instead, and three: I'm not quite sure whether or not he's entirely sane to begin with."

The younger woman blinked a few times as the information sunk in.

"I guess that means we're going with the first plan then." Marie nodded. "So… no annoying him?"

"Oh no, annoy him as much as you want! Just be careful." She paused. "But in the meantime, we have a lot of planning to do. We'll need to find out where we're going and when; and get some supplies. Money, we'll need some money too."

"So it's set then? Next port we make a break for it?" Marie nodded again, a small smile on her face.

"I can't wait."

* * *

The next morning came far too soon. That was another thing that they had trouble adjusting to: the early wake ups. 

Jack refused to give them any special treatment (as he said: 'I will have no favorites on my ship.'), so they woke up with the rest of the crew.

The work had become almost unbearably dull, the same chores over and over. It was mostly cleaning or untying all the knots that had become tangled in the rope.

"Alyssa!" Oh joy, Jack was calling her. She chose to ignore him.

"Alyssa!" Jack rolled his eyes. Damn stubborn woman.

"Miss Thurston!" She finally chose to acknowledge him.

"Yes Captain?"

"I need more rum." He said tersely.

"As good as that is to know, I don't care." She turned back to her work, cleaning again.

"Let me rephrase that. Get me rum _now_ before I have to cancel your dinner for tonight." Alyssa paused a moment, thinking it over. Despite the horrible quality of the food, she was almost always hungry.

"Fine, I'll get your damn alcohol." She got up off her knees and headed below deck. "But I'll take my good sweet time!"

* * *

Alyssa wandered down below deck. There was a door on her right that she hadn't seen before. She opened it and found that it was full of random trinkets. She picked up a little box, turning it over in her hands. 

This could keep her busy for awhile.

* * *

She reemerged about half an hour later, carrying a small bottle. She tossed it up to Jack, and he caught it gingerly. 

"That's all?!" He whined, looking at the tiny amount.

"Yes, that's all."

"Half an hour below deck and this all ye get?!"

"Let that be a lesson to you." she walked back to her work.

"Let that be a lesson to you!" He said, mimicking her previous statement. "I'll show her the real meaning of that."

* * *

There we go: another chapter! And look at how quickly I updated! The chapter is still kinda short, but I'll work on it. 

Review please!

Chicaga


	8. Have a Drink on Me

Wow! 14 reviews last chapter? Thanks so much you guys!

* * *

_Whiskey gin and brandy,_

_With a glass I'm pretty handy, _

_I'm trying to walk a straight line, _

_On sour mash and cheap wine_

_So join me for a drink boys,_

_We're gonna make a big noise _

_So don't worry about tomorrow,_

_Take it today, _

_Forget about the check, _

_We'll have hell to pay_

_Have a Drink On Me – AC/DC

* * *

_

"Welcome to Tortuga ladies. The pirate's paradise!" Jack swept his arm out towards the town on the horizon.

"It looks… um… interesting." Marie said quietly. They were still quite far away, but they could hear the din of the noise, and see the lights.

"It's more than interesting! It's the greatest town on earth!"

"I'm sure it is. Let me guess, whores, bars and crime right?" Alyssa said, annoyed. Jack had announced that they would be visiting the port a few days ago, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to escape. And it was, till now.

"Those are the best parts luv. Without them it would be just like any another town."

"Oh heaven forbid." She turned and walked back, trying to find something to do.

"Was she always like that?" Jack muttered.

"No, not really." Marie answered. "She's taking advantage of the freedom."

"Ah, I see." There was a pause as Jack thought. It was time to do some digging. "Where are ye two from anyway?"

"London. I was coming over to get married."

"Heard that one before." He snorted. "Let me guess, you've never met him and he's at least ten years older than you are." Marie felt her cheeks grow hot and nodded.

"Alyssa was supposed to find a suitor here too, but I doubt that she would have." She laughed a little. "She scared away a lot of them."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." There was a pause. "She said that she'd been sailing for awhile." Marie nodded tentatively, unsure if she should be saying so much.

"Our father was a merchant sailor. He would take her out sometimes."

"Not you?"

"Oh no, my mother would never allow that." She paused, searching for the right words. "Alyssa was different."

"Second born, second best sorta thing?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Well, ye should get ready to dock. Lots of fun to be had tonight." Marie nodded and went back to work.

* * *

"My God." Alyssa whispered as another whore ran out in front of them, chased by a drunken pirate.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Jack beamed, leading them towards a nearby building.

"I suppose you could call it that…" Marie added. She looked up at the sign above the tavern. "'The Faithful Bride.' That sounds promising."

"It's my favorite luv. Best rum on this rock."

"Oh, exciting." Alyssa grumbled, following him inside. He went straight for a table near the middle, taking a seat. The two had trouble getting through the crowd, and by the time they arrived at the table, Jack had already given their order to a waitress.

"A little crowded, isn't it?" Marie huffed, sitting down.

"Consider it atmosphere."

"What a horribly disgusting atmosphere…" Alyssa mumbled.

The barmaid came back a minute later carrying three glasses practically over flowing with drink.

"Thank ye luv." He passed one to each of the women, who looked at it in disgust. He rolled his eyes at them. "It's not gonna kill ye ya know."

"How can you be so sure?" They both stared down at the brown liquid.

"I've been drinking it for years, and I certainly ain't dead."

"But look what condition you're in now." Alyssa pointed out with a smile.

"That's not funny luv."

"Oh, I beg to differ."

"Now now Alyssa, insanity isn't at all humorous." Marie cut in.

"That's ri- hey!" The two girls burst out laughing, and he scowled at them. "Ye might as well drink it. I really wouldn't recommend the water."

They were still hesitant, but finally Marie decided to give it a try. She took a small sip, and her eyes widened. Her head whirled around and she spat all of it on the ground. Alyssa laughed wildly at her plight.

"That was perfectly good rum luv." Jack said, disappointed.

"Ugh! How can you drink that stuff?" He shrugged and looked over at Alyssa, pushing her glass closer.

"I think it's your turn now." She stopped laughing and stared down at the drink.

"I'm gonna pass, thanks."

"Oh no you don't! I tried it, so do you!" Marie laughed. Alyssa turned her eyes back down at the glass, raising it hesitantly.

"Here's to the hope that I survive." She took a sip, and grimaced. "It's not that bad… once you get past the taste." She coughed, swallowing the rest with some difficulty.

Jack smirked and downed his whole glass, the two staring at him in awe.

"You did not just do that."

"Aye, I did." He gave her a sly glance. "I bet neither of ye could do it."

"You'd win that one." Marie mumbled, leaning forward on the table.

"I don't know. I think I might be able to, once I got used to it." Marie raised an eyebrow at her sister, but didn't say anything.

"Drink the rest of that, and I'll get ye another. We'll see how ye do with that." She nodded, and began to drink.

* * *

"Dammit Alyssa, how much have you had?!"

"Hmmmm seventy-ten!" She slurred before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Oh God." Marie rubbed her face with her hands and looked up at Jack, who had a small smirk on his face. "What are you so happy about? She's gonna kill you when she's sober. And if she won't, I will."

"Small price to pay to see her like that." He pointed over at Alyssa, who had gotten up and started dancing with a random pirate. If you could call what they were doing dancing. By all chances he was just as drunk as she was. Marie gasped and leapt up, pulling her sister away.

"Hey! We're dancing!" She shouted angrily, placing her fists on her hips.

"Not anymore, you're not. We're going back to the ship."

"Aw Marie, live a little!" She slurred back, swinging back over to the bar. The elder quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "Fine. Jus' one more drink?"

"Alyssa, you need more alcohol in your system like you need a hole in your head, now lets go!" She pulled on her arm, heading back to the ship. Jack threw some money on the table and went to follow them.

The red head was stumbling behind her sister, drunken mind unable to handle all of the twists and turns being made. Eventually she just stopped walking and stood there.

Marie looked back at her angrily.

"Well? Come on. We need to get you back to the ship before something happens." Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead she fell backwards into Jack's arms.

Both stared at her for a moment, wondering what happened.

"Did she just faint?" Marie asked, looking at her sister in worry. Jack nodded, lifting her up. "Guess we should get her back before she wakes up."

"Trust me luv, she won't be waking up for a long time."

* * *

There we go! Long chapter just for you fabulous readers! I was really hoping to get this up earlier this week, but I had a really long essay due.

Review please!

Chicaga


	9. Oh joy

Alyssa groaned and buried her head in her pillow. She had a splitting headache and her stomach was churning.

_So this is what a hangover feels like…_

She opened on eye and looked up. Marie was sitting in a chair next to her hammock, looking down at her worriedly.

"Alyssa? You awake?" She whispered.

"Yeah, I'm up." She mumbled, her voice raspy and weak. Even the little amount of noise made her headache worsen. She groaned again.

"Jack said that you'd have a headache. He told me to give you this." She handed her a small cup. Alyssa drank the bitter liquid carefully, grimacing at the taste.

"What _did_ I do last night?"

"Besides drink?" She paused. "You don't want to know." Alyssa frowned.

"Was it that bad?"

"Could have been worse." Marie shrugged and gave a comforting smile. "Considering the amount you drank, much worse."

"How much?"

"As you put it: seventy-ten." Marie chuckled a little. The whole situation was rather humorous, now that her sister wasn't drunk.

"Oh joy." Alyssa rubbed her face with her hands.

"You know, you act really strange when you're drunk."

"She acts strange when she's not." Jack said loudly, slamming the door behind him.

"Shut up!" Alyssa hissed, her headache getting worse.

"Oops. Sorry luv." He looked over to Marie. "Did you give her the stuff?"

"Yeah, she drank it."

"Drank it? She's not supposed to drink it." Both of them looked at him wide eyed. Alyssa put a hand over her mouth, feeling like she was about to gag.

"What was I supposed to do with it then!?" Alyssa yelled, grabbing her head.

"Never mind that. How ye feeling?"

"Hung over you idiot."

"No need to get snappish luv."

"Um, I'm gonna go get some air. It's kinda stuffy in here." Marie said, slowly getting up. She gave Alyssa a weird look and left. Jack took her seat.

"I must say, ye certainly acted wilder than I expected." He quipped, inspecting his fingernails. "Course ye didn't do what I was hoping ye to, but still."

"What do you mean, than you expected?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh nothing luv."

"Are you trying to tell me that you got me drunk on purpose?!"

"Who, me?" He looked down at her, trying his best to look innocent.

"Yes you." She glared at him. "Why else would you keep getting me drinks?"

"Because ye seemed to be enjoying them." He shrugged.

"Oh shut up."

"So what if I did get ye drunk on purpose? I don't think you're in good condition to fight back."

"I swear, when I feel better, I will get you back."

"Of course luv. Ye just keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better." She groaned, more out of annoyance than pain.

He slammed the door as he left, only adding to the throbbing.

"He is so dead."

* * *

I know, I know, even shorter than before. But the next is much longer, and much more exciting, and almost done too, so just bare with me. And review. Yeah, that would be nice.

Chicaga


	10. Despicable

Chapter ten already!? Gah!

* * *

Jack came groggily out of his cabin, unable to sleep. He had a very bad feeling, and that was _never_ good.

He heard splashing coming from a far corner of the ship, followed by some humming.

Quietly approaching, he could tell that the person standing there was one of the girls, and that they were throwing a lot of stuff over board.

"What are ye doing?" The figure gasped, twirling around. Alyssa stared wide-eyed back at him, a small smile playing on her lips. "I repeat, what are ye doing?" His eyes drifted down. "And what is behind your back?"

She smiled boldly, pulling out a bottle.

"My- my rum?" He felt his stomach drop. Laughing at his expression, she tossed it backwards over her shoulder and into the water. "NO!" He yelled, practically throwing himself over board. He watched helplessly as the bottle splashed into the water. "How… How much…"

"Everything that was downstairs."

"Everything?!" She nodded, giving him a smug smile.

"That way you won't be able to get me drunk again." She paused, stroking her chin in thought. "Then again, that also means that no one _else_ will be getting drunk either…" She shrugged. "Oh well."

"Oh well? OH WELL?! YE JUST THREW THE ENTIRE RUM SUPPLY OVERBOARD!!"

"You say that like I don't already know." She shot back, flouncing away.

"You're gonna pay for that rum!"

"With what, Mr. Sparrow? In case you haven't noticed, I don't have any money."

"If I have told ye once, I've told ye a thousand times, it's _Captain_ Sparrow!" He growled. "You'll just have to sell something."

"Oh goody. We can start with this boat of yours. That should be worth a pound or two. Maybe we could get three for it, if we were to really clean it; get rid of those horrid black sails…" There was a pause as Jack stared back at her.

"Ye did not just insult my ship!"

"Oh no, you don't own a ship. I insulted your tiny, insignificant little rowboat!" she laughed in his face, turning to walk away again.

"THAT IS IT!" he drew his cutlass. "Ye can throw my rum over board; you can not call me Captain; but never, _ever_ insult my ship!" He lunged at her, and Alyssa was just able to dodge.

She ran around the deck, weaving around the mast and knocking over barrels in an attempt to lose him.

* * *

"What's goin' on up there?" A groggy sailor commented, awakened by the crashing and banging coming from over head. Almost everyone was awake now, but none of them moved.

"If it's Jack, I don't wanna know."

* * *

Her attempts didn't work very well, as he just jumped over them and kept following after her. She took a sudden right turn and hurried below deck, Jack still chasing after her like a madman.

Eventually she came to a dead end. She whirled around to face her pursuer. She needed a plan, and fast.

"Jack…" She looked at him; giving the most seductive look she could without gagging, "you don't want to kill me…at least not yet… I mean, you haven't even gotten a chance to sleep with me yet! That would be more than a little disappointing, wouldn't it?" He looked at her in confusion, lowering his sword.

"Excuse me?" She waltzed up to him, swaying her hips dramatically.

"I mean, you've worked so hard. It would be a shame for all of that to go to waste…" She whispered hotly, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jack was still rather confused, but smiled anyway.

"It would, wouldn't it?" She nodded in response, moving her hands down his back.

"Maybe I could make up for that rum in… a different way…" Her voice had lowered to a whisper, her mouth next to his ear. And strangely, she didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable like this. She was rather enjoying it really, teasing him this way.

Carefully so as not to make him suspicious, she reached around him and tried to take hold of his sword.

_Almost there…_

She finally managed to grab it and pushed him away.

"AHA!" She held the sword level with his throat. He looked wide eyed at her, and then at the sword.

"That, was so completely wrong."

"Oh well." She started attacking him, chasing him back down the hallway. Her swings were wild and erratic, inexperienced but still effective.

In her hurry to chase after him, Alyssa clumsily tripped over her own feet. She yelped and dropped the sword, and ended up taking down Jack with her.

When she looked up, she realized that Jack was half on top of her, looking down with half anger, half amusement.

_Oh my…_

Her breath caught in her throat when she realized how close they were. _This is kinda nice actually… _

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door across from them suddenly opening, revealing a tired and grumpy Marie. She looked down at the scene angrily.

"Get a room." She quickly turned back into the room, closing the door. The lay there a moment, breathing slowing.

"Jack?"

"Aye luv?" he looked down at her with a smirk.

"Get off of me."

"No, I don't think I will."

"Jack, please."

"Consider it payback."

"Look, it doesn't matter how long you lay on top of me, I am not going to do something I'll regret." He leaned forward, his mouth right next to her ear.

"Trust me luv, ye won't regret it." she rolled her eyes, pushing him as far away from her as possible.

"Ever heard of the old saying, quit while you're ahead? Well you're ahead, so quit."

"I never quit luv."

"There's a first time for everything." Jack opened his mouth but couldn't think of what to say.

"Fine." He rolled off of her, and she got up.

"You're despicable, you know that?" She brushed the dirt off her clothes.

"I'm despicable? What would ye call that little display back there, huh? Happy go lucky fun?"

"I would call that saving myself from _you_, thank you very much. Good night Captain Sparrow." She reentered the cabin before he had a chance to reply.

"You're still paying for that rum!"

* * *

Look how long that was! Yay me! Review please! (exclamations!)

Chicaga


	11. Drowning

Ugh, another late update. So sorry.

* * *

"Cap'n! Cap'n!" Gibbs came screaming up on deck, flailing his arms around wildly.

"Yes, Mr. Gibbs."

"Someone must have come in the middle of the night and stolen all the rum! It's all gone!" There was a stunned silence as the information settled in the minds of the crew.

"NO!" The all screamed at once, looks of horror on their faces.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Gibbs is in fact correct." Jack placed his hat over his heart and bowed his head. "The rum is gone." He spun around on his heel. "Viciously thrown overboard like so much garbage."

"Who? Who's the blasted dog who dares throw the rum overboard?!" Gibbs cried, drawing his sword. The rest of the crew gave a cheer, pulling out their own weapons.

Alyssa decided that this was probably a good time to go below deck.

"Who indeed?" Jack began to pace the deck. "Who among us would throw such bloody good rum into the sea? Isn't that an interesting question, Miss Alyssa Thurston?" He shouted the last part, pointing an accusing finger at her.

She cringed at the sound of her name, turning around slowly. The whole crew was staring at her wide-eyed.

"Her?!" The all yelled. There was no possible way that they would be able to kill the culprit now. Jack would never allow it.

Jack had abandoned his post at the helm, and now was pacing next to her.

"Aye, it was. And ye know what I say? I say that we return the favor." He swept his hand behind her knees, lifting her up into the air. "Since ye don't seem to like here, might as well leave ye somewhere."

He carried her over to the railing, holding her out over it. She gave a high pitched scream and tightened her arms around his neck. And then he dropped her.

Marie, who had been standing petrified nearby, rushed over to where Jack was standing.

"You blasted idiot! She can't swim!" She screamed shrilly, looking down at where her sister was struggling to stay afloat.

"What?" Jack blinked slowly, following Marie's gaze. Once he finally realized what exactly was happening, he threw off his coat and jumped in after her.

"That's right! You go save the woman you're drowning!" She yelled after him.

Jack surfaced and looked around. Alyssa was about ten feet away, flailing and struggling for breath.

"Stupid girl couldn't tell me that she couldn't swim. No, no one thinks to point that out ta me." He grumbled as he swam towards her.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, efficiently holding her head above the water line. She gasped and sputtered, trying to regain some sense.

Her head was swimming, and she couldn't think straight. She had swallowed some water; she wasn't sure how much.

"Ye alright luv?" Jack was looking at her, and she thought that she could see concern in his eyes.

"Were you freaking _trying_ to kill me?!" She said in a raspy voice.

"I'll take that as a yes." He turned his head back towards the ship. "Rope would be nice!"

A line was thrown down a few feet away.

"Listen to me. I'm gonna let ye go." Her eyes widened. "Ye just need to kick your legs alright? I'll be right here if ye need me." She paused a moment and gave a weak nod. His arm slipped from her waist, and she sunk back into the water.

Kicking like Jack told her to, he led her back over to the rope. She was still having a little trouble keeping her head up, but she felt like she was more in control.

They eventually reached the rope, and after she was safely back on deck, Jack was pulled up.

She lay on the deck a moment, her heartbeat slowing. When she reopened her eyes, she could see Jack leaning on the railing next to her. He had one of those evil smirks on his face that mean something was wrong.

"What are you so happy about?" she said dryly. His grin widened.

"Just enjoying the view luv." Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked down at herself. Her shirt was soaked and completely see through. She sat up and wrapped her arms around herself.

"If it weren't for the fact that you just saved my life, I would kill you right now."

"I say you should at least slap him, considering the fact that he dumped you overboard." Marie commented angrily, handing her coat to Alyssa.

"That's a great idea." She drew her hand back to slap him, but he caught her wrist.

"Maybe another time darlin'." He glanced around. "I think the crew's still a little angry 'bout that rum. Wouldn't want to go and upset them any more, now would ye?" She glared at him.

"Damn you." She spat, turning to go back below deck.

"Watch your language luv!" He called cheerily after her.

"You ever, do that again, and I'll hang you myself." Marie shot him a glare and went to follow her.

"Oh yeah, let's all gang up on the Captain." He muttered, heading back up to the helm.

* * *

There we go, finally up. This chapter is pretty long, you will notice. Please review!

Chicaga


	12. Bets

Inspiration for this and the few chapters following goes to my friend, who took a vow of silence supporting Free the Children.

Also in need of a thank you is the old '80's girl group 'The Weather Girls.' For some reason their song 'It's Raining Men' was the only thing that could get me writing. Don't even ASK why.

* * *

Alyssa stormed back on deck to where Jack was standing at the helm.

"We need to talk." She said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm listening."

"I would prefer that we talk in private." He glanced over at her to check if she was serious. As far as he could tell she was.

"Excuse me gents, but it appears that Ms. Thurston would like us to have a little 'alone time.' We might be awhile." He put an arm around her waist and led her back into his cabin. She didn't protest due to the fact that she was thinking of ways to kill him.

"You horrible, horrible excuse for a human being!" She hissed once he closed the door. "Do you have any idea what they think we'll be doing?!" Jack had gone and sat at his desk.

"Aye." He grinned, but frowned when he noticed her expression. "Are we not doing that?"

"No, we are not!"

"Oh. Well it was worth a shot." He propped his feet up on the desk and leaned back in his chair. "So what was it that ye wanted?"

"I demand that you let us off at the next port." He stared back at her before bursting out laughing.

"Humor! I like it! Ye should really try that more often... Now really, what was it that ye wanted?" She glared back at him, and he lowered his eyes. "Ah, I see. Well then…"

"You have no reason to keep us here." There was a pause before he looked up.

"Entertainment?"

"If almost killing me is some form of sick and twisted pirate entertainment…"

"Okay, now that was an accident!"

"Of course it was." She reached over and slapped him. "Just like that was." He rubbed his cheek and glared at her.

"I'm gonna forget that that just happened and move on. Back to previous argument: as ye so nicely put it: 'You haven't even gotten a chance to sleep with me yet!'" He raised the pitch of his voice to mimic her.

"All the more reason I personally should leave, Mr. Sparrow. We're not suited for this type of… lifestyle, if you can call it that."

"I think ye might like it, if ye-"

"We are NOT staying." She interrupted.

"Oh yes, I think-"

"No!"

"Well hold-"

"No, no, no, no, n-"

"Will ye just shut up for one bloody minute?!" She looked at him, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"How dare you!" She said, more snobbishly than intended.

"I see that ye can't." he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Ye probably couldn't stop talking for more than a day."

"I could so! I could not talk for a week!"

"Oh really?" He leaned forward so that his face was only a few inches from hers. "Care to bet on it?"

"What are the stakes?"

"One week of silence."

"No way. Three days." He raised his eyebrow and smirked at her.

"Is that because that's all ye can do?"

"No! I can go two weeks if I had to!"

"Then one week should be no problem." He waved his hand in the air randomly and stood up.

"Fine. One week." She grumbled.

"Anyways, if ye can not talk for one week starting now, I'll drop ye both off at the nearest port."

"As long as it's not Tortuga." She shuddered at the thought.

"Sure, whatever. Now, if ye don't complete your one week, I get to keep ye here as long as I want."

"Fine." She stuck out her hand. "Shake on it."

"Very well milady." He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. She looked at him in disgust and pulled her hand back. "Oh, this is going to be fun. No talking, arguing, yelling or general noise from ye for one whole week. I don't know about you, but I am personally looking forward to it."

She rolled her eyes and exited the cabin.

_Loads of fun…

* * *

_

Okay, I'm really sorry if this chapter kinda sucked. Writer's block and school combined are killing me.

I've noticed that the alerts system is down again (oh joy) so I understand late reviews.

Chicaga


	13. Silent as the grave

Happy birthday to me. And Chuck Norris :)

* * *

Staying quiet for a week is no easy feat. It had only been three days and already Alyssa thought she would go crazy.

As if the feat in itself wasn't hard enough, Marie was mad at her too. She had tried asking her a question about some knot that Mr. Gibbs had taught them and Alyssa hadn't answered. Marie had asked over and over, and in the end had just stormed off.

Later she had asked her about it, which only succeeded in making things worse.

Marie had gone and told someone, and now everyone knew that she was being 'ignored' by her sister. The crew gave her strange looks and a few had made an attempt to get her to talk. Now most of them just thought she was sick.

Plus she had gotten a very painful splinter.

And these were the things Jack wasn't involved in. Among his list of misdeeds against her were encouraging people to talk to her, accidentally knocking her over, assigning her to harder work and making her clean the deck repeatedly.

She had the blisters to prove it.

But besides all that, being silent was kind of fun. She found that she noticed things more. There were people she didn't even know were on the ship that had tried talking to her. She knew their names simply by hearing people call them.

People ignored her when she was quiet, so she had lots of time to think. Which was both good and bad, considering the places that her thoughts drifted to. Much to her astonishment she often thought of Jack.

She knew he was watching her, ready to pounce as soon as she slipped up. Every time she looked up, there he was, smirking when someone asked her a question and giving her an admonishing look whenever she was about to explode.

Unbeknownst to him, that was her greatest reason to keep going. She refused to give him the satisfaction of letting him win.

* * *

Jack didn't like this situation. She was actually doing pretty well with the whole being silent thing. At this rate it they would be off the ship in no time. But at the moment he had bigger things to take care of.

He had heard from an acquaintance of an old friend that there was something valuable being kept in the city of Santiago, and he was intent on taking it. He had told Mr. Gibbs, who had told the crew, and they were headed there now.

It would take about two days to get there, meaning that Alyssa would still be quiet when they arrived. He could pass the time by annoying the living hell out of her.

There was nothing else to do, so he figured he should start now.

"Mr. Gibbs, take the wheel." The first mate did as he was told and Jack headed down to where she was sitting. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she spliced a rope, and then tied it back together.

He stood behind her and watched for her work. She held the rope up to check it over when he grabbed it. She gasped and tried to reach it, but ended up falling backwards off the crate she was sitting on.

For awhile she just lay sprawled on the ground, her hat covering her face and her chest heaving. Jack cocked his head to the side in confusion. Eventually he bent down and lifted the hat off of her face.

He had never seen such a look in his life. Her face was bright red, her teeth were clenched and her eyes stared up at him with so much loathing that he thought it might knock him down dead.

But she didn't say a word.

Instead she sat up and grabbed her hat from his hand, hitting him with it before putting it on. She stood and glared at him for a minute. He looked back at her with a mixture of amusement and disappointment. He thought for sure that would make her crack.

She sat back down on the crate and picked up a new rope. When she realized that he hadn't left, she turned around. She crossed her arms over her chest and made a face that said 'Well?'

Jack wasn't quite sure what to do. Her reaction was very different from what he thought it would be.

"Here." He tossed the rope he had taken back to her and stalked off to the helm, grumbling all the way.

Alyssa was quite proud of herself. She had managed to thwart Jack's plan. She couldn't help but smile.

Marie came up and sat across from her, picking up her own rope.

"I know you're not talking to me or whatever, and I don't know why, but I saw that, and I know that you didn't keep quiet for no reason."

Alyssa bit her lip and looked down at the deck. It would be so much easier if she could just tell her.

"What did he do to you?" Marie looked at her in concern. Her sister shook her head with a look of disgust. "Nothing? Good, cause if he did, there would be trouble." Alyssa smiled.

Sisters stuck together, no matter what.

* * *

I hope that y'all find this chapter better than the last one. I might go back later and change it, time permitting.

Off to go eat some birthday cake, leave a nice review!

Chicaga


	14. A Hole!

I should be slapped. Slapped real hard, right across the cheek there.

I'm sooooo sorry for the wait. This chapter has just been sitting there since whenever, in need of just a few ending paragraphs, and what do I do? I leave it there to wallow in its own misery. 'It can wait.' I says. It's not like I don't have any time. I'm on March break in fine writing condition, and do absolutely nothing. Blech.

This concludes the reasons why I should be slapped. Thank you and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Alyssa managed to get through the days leading up to their arrival in Santiago with little incident. There were a lot of things to be done before they did whatever they were there to do, so Jack had no time to bother her. Not that that was bad. It was wonderful.

The Pearl was docked in a lagoon hidden by a forest and some hills where they couldn't be seen. Once all the work was done, Jack told them to go get some rest.

"We'll be getting up early."

* * *

It was near midnight when they set out. Jack had chosen a team, consisting of Mr. Gibbs, Marie, Alyssa and a few others, to go with him on this little adventure.

"I don't see why _we_ have to go." Marie grumbled, rubbing her arms. "When it's all dark and late and cold."

"Because you need to get used to traversing around in the dark, late at night when it's cold." Jack replied, rolling his eyes.

Had Alyssa been able to talk, she would have said: 'Well if I stay quiet for two more days, than there will be no need for all this.'

But she couldn't, poor thing.

Eventually they arrived at a large stone wall. Jack approached it carefully, inspecting it. He knocked on it, picked at it, pushed on it, smelt it, and did about a dozen other things before stepping back.

"It appears that we have come across a stone wall." Alyssa had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming at him. Instead she made an small gurgling noise. Jack looked back at her. "Since that wasn't a word I won't count it."

Everyone looked at them in confusion, but let it go. Using the assistance of some nearby trees, he got himself on top of the wall. He sat in thought for a moment, examining the what was on the other side.

"Mr. Gibbs, I will need you to go about… hmm a hundred feet in a general that way direction," he waved his hand to the right "and dig a hole."

The first mate looked at his Captain in confusion.

"A… hole Cap'n?"

"Aye, a hole! Right under the wall!"

"If ye say so…" Gibbs muttered.

"Yes, I do say so. Now off ye go." He was about to jump onto the other side, but stopped. "And Mr. Gibbs! If I'm not back by dawn, ye all know what to do." The crew all nodded solemnly, and he leapt over the wall.

"What is it we're supposed to do?" Marie asked quietly.

"Leave, come back tomorrow." Gibbs replied as they headed off to where Jack had instructed.

"Oh." She said quietly. "But wouldn't we want to go help him after an hour?"

"No, that means that he's been arrested. There would be too many guards around."

"What if he's not arrested? Just late?" Mr. Gibbs rolled his eyes. He had no idea why the Captain chose to bring them.

"Then the Cap'n'll find somewhere to stay. Ye ask a lot of questions." Marie muttered an apology. They walked in silence awhile, the only thing that could be heard was their boots crunching in the sand.

Finally they arrived at the place Jack had told them. It was exactly like the stretch of wall they were at before.

"Well lads, get digging. Ye two can go be look outs." He waved the girls away, grabbing a shovel.

Marie and Alyssa guarded the area for hours, pacing back and forth between two trees. Eventually they sat down by one of them and fell asleep.

* * *

Alyssa awoke later to voices. It hadn't been long, she knew. Possibly an hour. She looked over to where the hole was being dug. They were only about halfway.

She heard footsteps at her right, and looked over. There were some shadows moving about and whispering to each other. She managed to catch snippets of the conversation: pirates, dig, armed, and shoot.

She tried to shake Marie awake, but she just rolled over and mumbled something.

_Come on, come on…Dammit why does she have to be such a deep sleeper!?_

Alyssa looked back at where the men had been standing. They were closer now, and she could make out that there were about ten of them, each with weapons. She wasn't sure if her own group had weapons, but they were outnumbered, even when she added Marie and herself to the numbers.

Careful so as not to attract the attention of the guards, as she supposed they were, she made her way over to the digging group. She tapped the shoulder of the nearest one, but all she got was a pile of dirt in the face. After coughing and wiping it off, she managed to find Mr. Gibbs.

"Can this wait? We need to get this done." _Aw crap. _She thought. _What to do now?_

After a moment of thought she grabbed his ear and turned his head in the direction of the guards. After a short stream of curses he realized what was happening.

"We're under attack!" He yelled, ducking back into the hole. He came out a minute later, weapons coming with him. The rest of the crew came out as well, similarly armed.

Marie finally woke up, and had stumbled over to the area.

"What's going on?" She yelled, eyes focusing on the fight before them. She gasped when she realized what was happening. "We need to get out of here, now!" Marie grabbed Alyssa's hand and started to run back the way they came. After awhile they stopped, seeing that no one was following them.

"Which way to the ship?" Marie panted, looking around. Alyssa glanced around as well. Even if she could talk, she'd have no answer.

"Well I suppose we should find our way back, or at least to the docks." Alyssa nodded, and they started walking again.

In a few minutes they could see the Black Pearl in the distance.

"Ugh, finally." Marie started to run ahead, trying to find the long boat. Alyssa sat down on the ground with a sigh. She buried her face in her hands. They were doomed.

Even if they did find the longboat there was no way they could row themselves all the way back to the ship. And if they did, then the rest of the crew would be stuck on land.

Rough hands grabbed her arms, disturbing her thoughts. She was pulled to her feet, and she gave a small squeak.

Marie had obviously heard something and turned around. Her eyes widened.

"Hey! Let her go!" Alyssa managed to get a look at her captors. They were the same guards that had ambushed them by the hole.

Marie was stomping towards them, with that look on her face that meant that they were going to get the best beating she could give out. She wouldn't stop when she had that look, and that wasn't good.

_Oh to hell with the vow of silence!_

"Run!" Alyssa yelled. It wasn't worth both of them getting captured. Marie stared at her a moment. "Run dammit!"

Finally the elder sister nodded, turned tail and ran. Alyssa moved her attention back to the guards holding her back.

"Let me go!"

They ignored her and began walking. She was dragged to a gate in the wall, and was pushed through.

_Well why couldn't he just have used that? No need to dig a hole then…_She thought absently. She had stopped struggling. There was no point to it any more.

The guards led her into a large fort inside the walls, where they were met by even more of their colleagues. She was passed from one group of them to another, each of them being told to take her to the jail.

Once they finally decided who was to take her, she was led up a flight of stairs to a large hallway lined with metal barred cells.

She was thrown in one of them, and landed on the ground with a thud. The cell was locked behind her and the guards walked back down the stairs.

"You bastards! This is how you treat a lady?!" She yelled after them, waving her fist at them through the bars.

After awhile she realized that they weren't coming back, and laid down on the floor.

"I can't believe that I just got arrested!" She muttered to herself, rubbing her face with her hands. There was a laugh from the cell beside her.

"I can't believe that ye just lost the bet."

* * *

Dun dun duhhhhh. Oh the suspense. You could just choke on it.

Chicaga


	15. Behind bars

Chapter 15, right here.

* * *

"YOU!" She screamed, bolting upright. In the dim torchlight she saw him grinning at her from under his hat. 

"Me."

"I'm stuck in jail with a crazed, drunken pirate!" She wailed to no one in particular.

"Not to mention that you are now stuck on my ship until I otherwise say so."

"Oh, well we sh- Ahh!" She screamed as a rat scurried out in front of her. This only caused him to laugh more.

"It's a rat."

"It was the size of a dog!"

"Hmm, you're right. That is a little unusual…"

"Finally we agree on something!" She flung her arms in the air for no particular reason.

"Normally the rats in this area are much bigger." She stared at him for a moment, before looking back to where the creature had scurried by.

"How comforting." She mumbled, quickly sobered. There was a very prolonged silence as she stared at the floor of the cell. Jack wasn't really doing anything. "So how'd they get you?" She asked him quietly. It wasn't exactly a point of interest to her, but she really didn't like that silence.

Jack mumbled something incoherent in response, waving his hand vaguely.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Tripped over suit of armor." He muttered darkly. Alyssa let out a burst of laughter. "It was in the middle of the hallway! Why would there be a bloody suit of armor in the middle of the bloody hallway?!" This didn't do anything to stop her laughter. "Well how did _you_ get caught, huh missy?"

"I'll have you know that they snuck up on us." She stuck her chin up in the air defiantly. "Which reminds me, why wouldn't you just use the gate instead of digging a hole?" The pirate shrugged.

"No fun that way."

"You're an idiot." She shook her head at him, moving to lean against the back wall of her cell.

"Oh come now luv. I know you can be more creative than that." He too had moved, sitting against the farthest bars of his cell so that he was facing her.

"I could be, but it would be a waste of words on such an incompetent animal such as yourself."

"Much better, thank you." She shook her head so he wouldn't see her smiling. It didn't work very well.

"Is that a smile?" She looked up to glare at him, and found him leaning forward a bit to look at her.

"No."

"I think it was." He leaned back against the bars of his cell. "Who'd have thought that I'd see you smile in jail?"

"Yeah yeah, moment of weakness." She muttered to herself, looking around. There was nowhere to sleep in the cell, except for a pile of hay in the corner. It looked questionable to her, so she made a mental note to avoid it.

"Weakness, eh?" He continued the conversation, much to her dismay. She laid down on the cold ground, grimacing at how hard it was. "Well that is a very interesting advancement."

"Can you be quiet please?" The coat she had borrowed was crumpled up on the ground and being used as a pillow. There was the sound of movement and he began talking again, much closer now.

"What kind of 'weakness' are we talking about here?" She frowned and curled into a tighter ball. "Because that would help me a lot when de-"

"Will you shut up! I'm trying to sleep here!" She hissed back at him. He backed off immediately, holding up his hands apologetically.

"Sorry." She made an incomprehensible grunt in response, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Alyssa was awoken by the clattering of keys on the cell doors. She groaned and waved her hand at the noise. Last night hadn't exactly been the most enjoyable night of her life, and the rude awakening certainly didn't help. Guards, different ones form the day before, were standing in the door way. 

"You, girl! Commodore wants to see you." It had never occurred to her that they might actually interrogate her. Last night she had been so preoccupied with talking to Jack that the situation hadn't even really settled in her mind.

They could kill her for all she knew…

What if they were going to kill her now?!

She looked at Jack in alarm, but he was looking stone faced at the guard. No no, they wouldn't do that. If anything, they would kill Jack first. And they couldn't just kill her without a fair trial, right?

"Hurry up already! Commodore can't wait all day!" One of the guards yelled at her again, motioning to her impatiently. She got to her feet slowly, and followed him out.

* * *

She came back a few hours later, slightly shaken up, but not hurt. The cell was locked behind her, and she sat back down on the ground. 

"How'd it go?" Jack asked casually, but she thought she could hear some small degree of caring in his voice.

"Fine, I guess." She wrinkled her nose. "I don't like the Commodore."

"It's so hard to find a good one now a days." He commented with a sigh.

"I don't see the point in them even bringing me in there. They knew all the answers anyways." She pulled her knees up towards her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "The Navy really hates you, huh?" Jack chuckled.

"More than you know." There was another pause as she pondered over this.

"Why?"

"It's a pretty long story luv." She looked at him incredulously.

"What else would you recommend doing?" He smirked and leaned over more towards her cell.

"If it weren't for these bars between us, there are many things I can recommend."

"You disgust me." She spat back at him, moving herself farther away from the bars seperating them.

"Worth a shot."

"Look, if you're gonna say why, just do it."

"Calm down lass. Temper like that's gonna get ye in trouble one day."

"Well if the trouble will get me away from you…" She muttered, turning away from him.

"Let's get on with that story, shall we?"

* * *

Okalee dokalee dear people, review, review, review! 

Chicaga


	16. Still behind bars

"Why aren't they here yet? They should be here by now!"

"Calm down." Jack said, watching her look out through the bars of the cell window. It had been two nights since they had been captured, and there was still no rescue. The Commodore had been in the previous day to alert them of their impending dooms.

One more day and they would both be hung for piracy. It didn't even matter that she hadn't done anything related to piracy (aside from living on a pirate ship for near a month, but that wasn't intentional), she was being executed anyways.

"But why aren't they here?!" She wailed, eyes darting out over the harbor. Only half of it was visible due to the angle of the window, but that didn't stop her from trying to see.

"Repeating that over and over _isn't_ going to get them here faster."

"What if they don't come? Maybe they've left us to die!"

"My crew didn't leave us to die." He paused and looked her over. "You, maybe, but not me." She glared back at him.

"Why are you so rude to me? Really, it's uncalled for."

"S'fun I guess." He shrugged, lying down on his back. Alyssa slid down against the wall, sitting down underneath the window.

"How can you be so calm about this?" She asked quietly.

"Been in jail so many times, it hardly seems abnormal." It made sense to her, so she nodded.

"Are you not afraid to hang?"

"We're not going to hang Ally."

"Ally?" she asked him incredulously. No one had ever called her anything but Alyssa before. Except maybe 'Miss' but that hardly counted.

"Ye need a nickname." He replied nonchalantly.

"Marie doesn't have one."

"Marie's the kind of name that doesn't need to be shortened. Saying Alyssa over and over gets tiring." She couldn't help but smile at that.

"You're so weird." She shook her head and sighed. Her mind was trying to decide whether or not to talk to him at all. Previous attempts at conversation had not ended well. In the end she figured she might as well.

"I was named after my father. I was supposed to be a boy." Jack gave her a weird look but didn't say anything. They sat in silence awhile.

"I don't know much about your family." She didn't respond. "Oh come now luv, I've yet to see you shy." Her cheeks flushed. He was right. She wasn't when there were people around. Now they were alone and things were different. Even if there were bars between them, she was still uncomfortable.

"You don't even want to know about them." She said curtly, turning away from him.

"Aye, I do." She turned her head to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well then you don't want to hear it from me."

"I don't see anyone else here to tell me." He lifted his hat to take a glance at her. "And it isn't like there's much else to do here." She sighed. He was right, she had to admit.

"My father was a merchant sailor. He would take me along with him sometimes and-"

"I already heard this part."

"From who?" She paused to think. "Oh, Marie. Well it's my story and I can tell it how I like." He shrugged, and waved his hand for her to continue.

"I was sent to accompany her to the Caribbean because I had sailed before and-"

"She was coming to get married."

"Yeah. Some old plantation owner." She waved her hand nonchalantly. "Now stop interrupting me."

"One could assume then, that once ye arrived, you would also be getting married?"

"I suppose." She was silent for a moment, looking down at the stone floor. "Well I don't really know what else to tell you. You already seem to know everything."

"Well then let me continue." He cleared his throat dramatically. "As I have learned from numerous females, an arranged marriage not exactly something to look forward too. Surely you agree." She nodded stupidly, unsure of where this conversation was going. "And I doubt you would enjoy being held down like that."

"What exactly are you insinuating?" Her eyebrows came together in a questioning look.

"I think you're rather glad that you're stuck on my ship." He grinned. Her eyes widened in disbelief, but she couldn't think of anything to say. "As long as you're stuck there, there's nothing to hold you back."

"In case you haven't noticed, we're stuck in a jail cells. I would consider that being held back."

"But after this." His voice had dropped to a whisper, so she had to strain to hear him. "No dresses, no fancy parties, no fronts to put up." She found herself leaning forward towards him. "You can be free."

By the way her eyes widened ever so slightly, he could tell that she liked what she was hearing. But if it was one thing Jack knew, it was when to leave 'em wanting more.

"But of course, you want to go back to that life, so I'll just stop." She made a small noise of protest, clapping her hand over her mouth to muffle it. He pretended not to hear it tipped his hat over his eyes.

This was working very well

* * *

Okay there, chapter 16. Kinda weird/pointless. There appears to be a decline in the number of reviews… But thanks to those who did! 

Chicaga


	17. Escape

Fanfiction wouldn't let me add this for days… :(

* * *

Alyssa hadn't slept all night. If she slept, then when she woke up it would be tomorrow, and they would die.

She noticed that Jack wasn't sharing her troubles, and was snoring softly in the cell beside her.

What he had said bothered her. She had never thought about how different it was to live like she had, at least not in a good way. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she had actually enjoyed the time.

There were footsteps on the stairs leading to the cells. Her head whipped around to the window, now filled with the orange light of dawn. It couldn't possible be morning yet!

The guards came down quickly and erratically, in a way that they had never done before. They were practically tripping over each other.

"I was about to think ye weren't coming." Jack had woken up, and was now standing by the door of his cell.

"Chased us all the way out of the bay, they did. We were lucky that they decided to turn back." One of the guards, who she now realized was Mr. Gibbs, went and unlocked her cell, and then Jack's.

She got up quickly, brushing the dirt off of herself. Just as she had gotten out of the cell, Jack had put handcuffs on her.

"What the hell are you doing?" She watched in horror as he put some on himself.

"Makes us less suspicious." Apparently the 'guards' already knew the plan, and grabbed each of them by the arm. "Now, just keep your mouth shut and look upset."

Alyssa nodded absently in response as they were led up the stairs. She held her breath as they were walked past a few groups of real guards, but they went ignored. Everything seemed to be going well until some higher ranking officers spotted them.

"You, men. Where are you taking those prisoners?"

"Uh, Commodore told us to take them to the gallows sir." Mr. Gibbs replied quickly, straightening to look more official.

"The hanging will not be taking place till this afternoon!" The fake guards looked at each other, then at the officer. They raised their arms and punched him square in the nose.

The man screamed in pain and called for the other (real) guards, who came running. Jack and Alyssa were let go and ran ahead, towards the stairs the led outside. There were gunshots behind them, no doubt from their comrades.

They came to a fork in the wide hallway, branching off into separate paths. Jack grabbed her arm and led her down the left corridor.

"How do you know this is the right one?"

"I don't." He replied, slowing down slightly and peering around the corner. "But now I know it's not. Turn around!" He pushed her back the way they came, following quickly behind her. There was yelling behind her, coming from what she figured were more guards.

They went down the other hallway, and managed to get through the rest of the fort and outside without running into more guards.

But of course there were more of them by the gate. Jack pulled her to sit behind bush out of sight of the guards and took a key out of his sash. He grabbed her hands and brought them forward.

The patches of skin that touched his tingled and she felt something swirling in her stomach. What the hell was _that_? She glanced up at him, and found him looking back at her.

"Ye can move your hands now." She looked down at her hands, sitting mid-air where he had placed them. Her cheeks grew hot and she pulled them back down. He handed her the key and held up his own hands.

She took them and unlocked them roughly, glaring back at his bemused expression. The shackles were thrown onto the ground and she shoved his hands back at him.

He turned around and looked out from behind their hiding place. After a moment or so he turned back to face her.

"Can you use this?" he pointed his sword at her. One finger pushed the blade away from her face.

"I might kill myself when I do."

"How about this?" He held the gun out to her. She shrugged.

"Show me how it works and I might." He gave her a brief overview of what to do, and handed it to her. Turning back around, he began reciting a complicated plan on how they were going to escape. Alyssa listened the best she could and decided that she would just let him do the fighting.

"Ready?" She nodded, and he creeped out from behind the bush. She hung back until he signaled her.

The guards, around twenty of them she saw now, hadn't noticed them yet. Jack led her along the wall of the fort to one of the surrounding ramparts.

Using some vines clinging to the inside, he pulled himself up flat on top of it, and reached a hand down to help her.

The guards that had been chasing them inside came outside and saw them, alerting the others that they were escaping.

Jack hauled her over the wall as shots were fired, and the gates opened farther down to the right of them. Alyssa fell roughly to the ground, fortunately not from too far up, and was pulled to her feet.

And then there was more running, but this time with twice as many angry guards whose jobs were to kill them right then and there.

She took a chance and cast a glance behind her. Some were chasing, some just standing there shooting.

They were shooting at them! They were shooting at her! HER! It hadn't even occurred to her before that this could kill her. Sure, it was a fact, but she had tried to avoid thinking about it.

The buildings of the town were now rising above them, and their pursuers gaining. They went around a corner, and into a building.

"What are you doing? They're going to-" Jack's hand clapped over her mouth, silencing her. He waited until the sounds of footsteps had drifted off to let go. She sputtered and used the back of her hand to wipe the grime from his hand off of her face.

"There could have been a more tactful way to do that." She whispered angrily.

"But not a more efficient one." He glanced out the window nearby before opening the door. They headed quickly through the back streets, in a way that showed Jack had been in the same situation before.

The buildings became more spread out as the pressed on, and in minutes the ship was in view, docked in a small lagoon hidden behind a mass of hills.

There was a rowboat waiting for them on shore. The two of them climbed in and Jack grabbed the oars. She felt bad for not really being able to help him, but she knew that if she tried it wouldn't get them anywhere.

On the ship she could see Marie waving frantically back at her.

* * *

Thar we go. Reviews are nice :)

Chicaga


	18. Death in the Family

GASP, what is this? An update? GASP. Okay, I'm really sorry about the long waits in between the last few chapters. School has been hell with exams, throw in some busy weekends and the dreaded writer's block and you get no time or will to write.

But it's here now, so badda boom.

* * *

"I don't care what that bloody pirate says, we are leaving at the next port." Marie said angrily, rearranging things in her trunk. Alyssa sat fidgeting on her hammock beside her sister, looking down at the ground blankly.

"Do we have to?" she muttered quietly, not lifting her gaze. The sound of Marie packing had stopped, and Alyssa could tell that she was staring at her.

"What? After you have been drowned, arrested, and nearly executed?!" Alyssa was silent for a moment.

"Well when you put it that way…"

"I do put it that way!" She moved so that she was facing her directly. "Look, it's for our safety, particularly yours. We're not suited for this sort of thing."

"Maybe if we stayed longer we could be." Alyssa murmured.

"And think of mother, she must be-"

"To hell with her." She slumped back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. Marie gaped back at her.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me perfectly well." Alyssa raised her eyes to lock with her sister's.

"You can't just say that about the person who gave you life!"

"Well, obviously I _can_."

"It doesn't matter how you were treated in the past, what matters is that she misses us, and she will be overjoyed that we're okay."

"You mean she'll be overjoyed to see that_ you're_ okay so she can go marry you off and bound up the social ladder."

"That is not true." Marie shot back, offended.

"Prove me wrong." Alyssa sat up, staring back at her.

"Well… well she… it was…"

"Exactly. You know our mother better than I do. She'd marry either of us off to some Duke in Iceland twice our age if it meant she got some time in the spotlight." Marie's mouth opened and closed, her eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"I can't just leave without you!" She managed to spit out.

"Then don't! Stay here."

"Oh no, I'll just have to drag you back to land kicking and screaming." Alyssa stood up suddenly, raising herself up to match her sister's height.

"I will bloody chain myself to this ship if I have to, but I am not leaving."

The elder stared at her in horror and anger. This was not her sister. She must have suffered from sort of head injury in jail or something.

And then she remembered a certain captain who happened to have also been in jail at the same time.

"What did he do to you?" She shook her sister's shoulders, eliciting a look of confusion.

"Who-?" Her question was left unanswered as the elder left the room

* * *

Marie stormed on deck, going straight for the helm. Jack saw her and frowned. He did _not_ like that face. That sort of face meant he was about get slapped. Maybe she hadn't seen him, and he could go hide…

Too late.

"What the hell did you do to her?!" She yelled, making him cringe as he expected something to hit him. When nothing did, he straightened, regaining his composure.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"In jail. When you were alone. With her." Jack snorted.

"Trust me luv, we didn't do a damn thing."

"Oh really? Then explain to me why she now refuses to leave." She snarled back at him.

Jack's eyebrows rose. It had actually worked. Not that he had any doubts. His plans always worked.

"Well I certainly don't know. It's her choice, not mine." He shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. She stared at him for a moment, not believing his answer. His eyes flicked to her face, and then back forward.

She stood there for only five minutes, but it seemed much longer. Finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Is there something else you would like to ask?" She shook her head. "Then, will ye leave?" She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

Jack sighed. Why was it that the women on his ship were always so bloody stubborn? He tried a new tactic, and left the helm. She followed. He wound his way around deck, but she was always close behind.

"What is it that ye want from me?"

"Convince her not to stay." Jack looked at her incredulously.

"That I won't do."

"Why not?"

"We had a deal. A bargain. An accord. She lost, so she has to stay as long as I see fit." Marie stared back at him blankly, and he shrugged. "Her idea, not mine." It was a lie, but hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

The woman's eyes narrowed before flicking back to stairs leading back the way she came.

"Excuse me; there's going to be a death in the family." With that, she stomped below deck.

Jack let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't his problem anymore.

* * *

Okay. There we go. I'm sorry if this chapter is kinda weird or choppy or something. Let me know and I'll fix it.

I'm going to Quebec on Monday, but I will work my little tail off trying to get up another chapter.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Chicaga


	19. The Lessons Begin

Alyssa sat below deck eating an apple, trying to figure out what to do. All the work that had to be done was done, her sister was pointedly ignoring her again (she was very good at this), and to make a long story short, she was bored out of her skull.

There was a sudden series of bangs and thumps coming down the stairs, shocking her out of her lazy thinking.

"Who put those stairs there?!" Jack yelled, appearing in the doorway with his back facing her. When he received no answer, he sniffed and continued into the galley.

He made no show of noticing her, instead going to some cabinets and peering inside them. She watched him intently, wondering if and when he would notice that she was sitting right behind him. It didn't take too long. He suddenly stopped searching and turned his head to the side. He glanced over at her, and after a tip of his head, continued rummaging around.

"Aha!" he exclaimed proudly, pulling out a bottle of rum. Alyssa rolled her eyes. She should have guessed as much.

He marched directly up to the table with his drunken swagger and sat far too close for comfort, straddling the bench to face her. He reached around her to grab an apple, and while he was distracted she scooted a few inches away.

"What ye doin' all alone down here?" He asked her

"I'm trying to be all alone." She snapped back. In truth she was greatly relieved to have someone to talk to, but there was no way she would let him know that.

"Why would someone as pretty as you want to be all by their lonesome?" The comment elicited a snort from her, though she was quite aware of her cheeks reddening.

"Save your flattery for the whores, Captain Sparrow." Jack winced dramatically.

"You cut me deep luv. Right here." He patted his chest, right above his heart. She smiled involuntarily, and noticed that he did too. Silence washed over the room for a moment or two as Jack took large swigs of rum.

"I hear that ye wish to stay." The seriousness of his tone surprised her.

"It's better than going back." She stated simply, hoping that would be the end of it. But of course it wasn't.

"If you're going to stay on my ship, I have a few rules." The comment made her grimace, which he noticed.

"There are only two, and neither involve you doing something lewd." He said. She was quite sure that she heard an 'unfortunately' muttered afterwards, but chose to ignore it.

"Good. What are these rules?" She turned to face him, resting her chin in one hand.

"No planning to desert in places such as… oh yes, Tortuga." Her brow furrowed.

"You knew about that?" She asked quietly. "And that's why you got me drunk." He nodded smugly. Surprisingly, she couldn't find it within herself to get angry at that. It was actually a very cunning plan, she had to admit.

Jack, quite pleased that he had managed to get away with that one without bodily harm, continued with his next rule.

"It is a requirement on my ship that all crew members be able to defend themselves. Therefore, you will be learning how to fight." Alyssa looked at him incredulously.

"As in using a sword? And a gun?" The thought of learning such things had always intrigued her, but she never thought that she would actually be able to. Jack nodded.

"Some basic hand-to-hand combat as well."

"Who… who would teach me?" The pirate smirked in response.

"Why, me, of course." She considered this. It was probably safer to have him teach her than anyone else. At least she felt she could trust him. Somewhat.

"What about Marie?"

"She could learn too. You could practice with each other eventually." There was a short pause before Alyssa responded.

"Alright. I'll learn." She sighed to make it seem like she was reluctant, but really she was quite excited. It wasn't everyday that you got an opportunity to learn from one of the best.

"Excellent. We shall start immediately." Jack leapt up from the bench and grabbed her arm, pulling her up as well. His arm wound around her waist, directing her swiftly out of the galley.

"Wait, now?"

"No time like the present luv!" He exclaimed, sweeping his arm out in front of them.

Well at least she wouldn't be bored anymore.

* * *

There we go, another chapter, and faster than the last post. I know it's short, sorry for that. I'll try to make the next longer, if I can. 

Review please!

Chicaga


	20. Perfect shots

Chapter 20?!?!

* * *

Alyssa groaned as she slid down to the floor, her muscles aching. One single hour of sword fighting, and she felt like she had been going on for days. She was quite sure that in the morning she would be one giant bruise. Despite the fact that she had never even held a sword, Jack showed no mercy when he attacked her. It was a damn good thing they were using wooden swords.

All that pain, and she had only been able to hit him once. Even then, she was pretty sure that he had let her do that on purpose. What's more, he had barely broken a sweat the whole time. Alyssa had shattered one into a million little pieces with a hammer.

Jack came back in the room, tossing her a bottle. She downed the contents greedily as he dropped down to the floor near her, and shuddered when she realized it was rum. Promising herself that she wouldn't have more than one bottle (lest she become drunk again), she kept drinking.

"Not too bad for your first lesson. Your hand eye coordination needs work though." His gaze connected with hers over his own bottle, and she felt her cheeks grow hotter. Thank God she was already flushed. "Couple of practices a week and you could get pretty good."

_More flattery. Cheeks burning…Ow, ow, ow…_

Alyssa went to take another swig, but found that the bottle was already empty. She looked at it forlornly and tossed it to the side, where their practice swords were lying. Jack apparently had also finished, and noticed her sad face.

"What? S'not like we can't go get more." Jack was up in an instant, and pulled her up along with him.

_Hand contact…tingling… _

He led her down to the galley, his arm somehow finding itself around her shoulders. For some reason, she didn't notice or care if she did. At the moment she was too focused on his one hand flitting all over the place as he started in on another long winded story.

Just as they left the room, Marie happened to be coming down the corridor with her coat, meaning to return it to her cabin. She caught sight of them, his arm around her shoulders, rum bottle in each of their hands, and when he turned, the glisten of sweat on his face.

Jack grinned at her, and whispered something to Alyssa. She whipped around in shock, and found her sister standing behind her. Marie looked at her in a mix of amusement and contempt, waiting for an explanation.

Alyssa quickly moved away from the pirate, her cheeks heating even more, this time from embarrassment. Jack watched the exchange quite closely, and seeing a very interesting opportunity, took action.

"Well, I must be going back up." He walked past Alyssa, drawing a finger down her jaw line to her collarbone as he went by. He nodded politely to Marie, and continued up on deck. She responded with raised eyebrows before turning her attention back to her sister.

Alyssa stood frozen against that wall, and if it hadn't been there, she wouldn't be able to support herself. Her mind was all jumbled up and she couldn't think at all.

"It's sad how much you like him." She grabbed her arm and pulled her down towards their cabin. Alyssa followed in a daze. "And it's sad that such a tiny thing can turn you into such a brain dead zombie."

Alyssa snapped out of her trance.

"I am not a zombie." She pulled her arm away. "And I do not like him." Marie groaned in exasperation.

"When are you going to stop lying to yourself?"

"In order to do that, I would actually have to be lying to myself."

"Fine, I'm not going to argue with you. You're too damn stubborn." Marie knelt down and put her coat back in her trunk. "What were you two doing all alone anyways?" Alyssa started to protest that they hadn't been doing anything when her sister continued. "I saw you coming out together, so don't bother."

Her lips made an 'o,' and she mentally admitted defeat.

"Jack… was teaching me how to swordfight." She bit her lip and looked down at the ground to avoid her sister's gaze.

"Swordfighting?" Marie repeated. She nodded. "Oh thank God." The elder let out a sigh of relief. They were quite for a long while, Marie studying her.

"Are you any good?" Alyssa was caught a bit off guard by the question.

"I guess. Jack says I could be really good." The thought made her blush again. Marie nodded, and then smiled.

"Think he could teach me?"

* * *

After a very awkward meeting, Alyssa had managed to tell Jack that her sister wished to also learn the art of sword fighting.

He had looked at her expectantly the whole time, making her feel all tingly and warm again. She dismissed it as the heat of the day (it was actually rather cool out) or something she had eaten the night before (which was barely anything). But she knew. She knew deep down that something her sister had said was right. No need to address that now though.

Marie had failed miserably at her attempts at using a sword. Like anyone she would need practice, but Jack claimed that she was beyond any sort of help. She had taken little offense to this, taking it as a way to get out of embarrassing herself when she tried.

"I just hate feeling so helpless." She said as she sat on deck with Alyssa. Alyssa herself had been overjoyed to hear that her sister wasn't good at it. She had been waiting all her life to be better than her sister at something, and though she knew it was wrong, was being very conceited about it.

"I guess that if we ever get attacked, I'll have to go hide like some damsel in distress." The elder sighed and rested her chin in her hands.

"Unless you can use a gun." Jack commented casually from nearby. Marie laughed ruefully.

"I can barely hold a sword properly, what makes you think I'll ever be able to shoot a gun?"

"Can't be good at everything, but ye have to be good at something." He shrugged. Marie sighed as she rose.

"Fine. Let me see how badly I fail at this too." Jack passed the wheel to someone else, grabbing a gun in the process. He tossed it to the woman, and she caught it awkwardly.

She tried holding it herself, and found that it sat comfortably in her hand. Jack peered over and grinned.

"Well ye can hold it well enough. This here is the trigger. Ye pull that to fire it. But first ye have to-" Marie had already cocked the gun herself, and was looking for something to aim at. "Hold on lass." Jack pushed the gun down to stop her. "Let's get you a target set up first."

He motioned for some crew members, and they brought forward a plank of wood. It was tied to the railing with some rope.

Jack came behind Marie, and positioned her in front of it.

"I know it's a little to small for a beginner to try hitting, but it will have to do. Now, try to focus on the spot where you want to-" Before he could finish, Marie had fired the gun. The resulting bang made Alyssa jump, and she thought she could see Jack flinch ever so slightly.

Marie stood there grinning like a madwoman, the gun still held out in front of her. Everyone looked over at the board. There was a hole fairly close to the middle. A rather drawn out silence followed and no one moved, except for a few eyes glancing towards her.

"Told ye you'd be good at it." Jack said rather triumphantly. Marie beamed at her sister, who was still astounded by the recent show.

"Let me try." Alyssa got up and grabbed the gun. She aimed it at the board, just as her sister had done, and pulled the trigger.

The shot went about five feet wide of the board. Alyssa stared at the target, especially the neat little hole in the middle. So perfect. Marie touched her shoulder.

"It's alright. With some practice, I'm sure you'll be really good at it." Alyssa nodded blankly, feeling a familiar little ball of anger growing in her chest. She handed back the gun.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching her sister make perfect shot after perfect shot in that damn board.

Anywhere Jack told her to shoot, the bullet went right there. Eventually Alyssa didn't even bother to look at where it went. Jack announced that they had found their new sharpshooter.

Alyssa couldn't take it anymore, and slipped unseen below deck. Even in her cabin, she could hear every perfect shot.

* * *

My reason for the delay: I had two chapters, and combined them (I hope the jumpiness isn't too weird). After reading the two of them together, I realized that the second part was written differently (i.e. better) than the first, so I went back and changed it. The whole thing was in your best interests, really.

But look how long it is (1678 words, longest I've ever written in any of my fics)! And I absolutely loooooove it. Hearts to everyone!

I have a random fact for y'all, that I have always found very interesting. Port Royal was actually WORSE than Tortuga ever was. The place was overrun with pirates and prostitutes and the like, and was known as the 'richest and wickedest city in the world.' There were 10 bars for every 1 person there, and was one of the most economically important towns in the British Empire. The town was hit by an earthquake in July1692, which sunk two thirds of the entire city, and was seen as a punishment from God.

I have lots to say today : D

Reviews are lovely

Chicaga


	21. Good Hostage

Months. Months and months. To be precise, five (almost six) months since Marie and Alyssa had been shipwrecked. The new world they were living in had become so familiar that it seemed like it was where they had always been there. Their old life of dresses and parties was slowly fading from memory.

Alyssa continued with her swordfighting, despite the extreme awkwardness that came with being alone with Jack for extended periods of time, and had improved quite a bit. Marie grudgingly took a few lessons as a precaution, but had ended up using that time to practice with any and all firearms she could find. She barely needed to practice, but she did anyway, grinning like a lunatic. Her enthusiasm was rather unsettling.

They had come across one ship, a small merchant vessel, in their travels. In an instant the whole ship was aflutter, crew members scurrying about to different positions as Jack gave them orders. Marie had gone straight up into the rigging, pistols tied to ribbons hanging from her shoulders.

Alyssa had immediately begun to panic. Fighting a person who you trusted (at least a little bit) with wooden swords was one thing, but a real battle with people who wanted to kill you was quite another. She looked up towards the helm to ask Jack, but he wasn't there.

"Do ye still have a dress down below?" She started as he spoke behind her. She nodded dumbly.

"Go put it on. Make yourself look nice." Her brow furrowed in confusion, but his hands waved her away before she could protest.

The only dress she could find that didn't require a corset was a simple green one with little pink bows. Figured her least favorite was the one she would have to wear. She put her hair up quickly and added some jewelry before hurrying back up. They were much closer to their target now; she could see the shapes of sailors scurrying about.

Jack was talking hurriedly to a few crew members, all of them nodding. When he saw her, he waved her over. He looked her up and down as she walked, scrutinizing every movement.

"Walk nicely. More ladylike." _How the hell does he know how I'm supposed to walk?_ She blushed as her mind went through various possibilities, and even more when she realized that everyone he had been talking to was now watching her. She straightened her back and walked carefully, taking tiny steps, just as her mother had taught her. Jack grinned.

"Much better." He grabbed her upper arm and dragged her the rest of the way. "I'm assuming you can act, aye?" She shrugged. "Well you're good at getting angry and upset, so this should work."

That would usually mean a slap, but she figured it wasn't the best time.

There was shouting from the other ship, now just in front of them. Jack grinned and tapped her on the nose.

"Now's your time to shine luv." To the others around her he gave a solemn nod before heading up to the helm. Alyssa was wondering what exactly his plan was when hands came around from behind her.

"Sorry miss, Captain's orders." They hooked a piece of cloth into her mouth and tied it behind her head, making a gag, and tied her hands loosely in front of her. Alyssa struggled, hoping that this would turn out differently than her imagination was thinking it would. They pulled her back around a corner, and she couldn't see what was happening.

There was shouting coming from out of deck. She knew one voice to be Jack's, and assumed the other was of the captain of the merchant vessel.

"I'd rather this ship be blown to pieces than to hand it's cargo over to you."

"Now, ye see that would be a real shame. Wouldn't want all that good stuff to go to waste." There was no response from the other side. "Ah, I see. Well, maybe I can get you to change your mind."

Alyssa was suddenly brought forward (quite roughly) and pushed up towards the helm and Jack. She stumbled forward, dazed and considerably confused. Jack threw an arm around her waist to bring her closer.

"Say hello to the nice merchant vessel darling."

"Sparrow! Release her immediately!"

"Once you hand over the goods." The other captain hesitated.

"How do I know she's not with you?" He asked warily. Jack sighed, pulling out his gun. He pulled Alyssa partially in front of him, placing one arm around her neck, and put the gun at her temple. It clicked when he cocked it.

Good God he was going to kill her to get that stuff. Alyssa clawed at his arms in an attempt to get away from him, but he wouldn't move. She was too scared to even notice that they were so close together. Jack leaned over towards her ear, and she stopped squirming for the moment.

"Just trust me, alright? Act like I just said something horrible." She obeyed and started screaming (the best she could with the gag in her mouth) and struggling even more. She heard a faint 'good girl' come from the pirate.

"Fine! Take what you want, but hand her and any other hostages you're harboring over to us." The opposing captain admitted his defeat, making Jack grin widely. He released his hold around her neck, sweeping her back to his side.

"Alright then gents, off you go." The crew gave a cheer as they swung over. Jack watched triumphantly, still holding onto Alyssa. She gave him a little kick in the shin. He grinned down at her, still bound and gagged.

"It suits you ye know." He motioned to the gag. She fumed half-heartedly. She was too relieved to actually be mad at him.

The crew went through the whole ship, bringing back cloth and spices and gold. The merchant sailors were fixed to the mast of their own ship.

"Alright Sparrow, hand over the young lady." Yelled the captain as he was tied up along with his crew. For a terrifying second, she actually thought he would do it.

"I wonder why everyone believes me." Jack sighed and shook his head in mock . He ordered the crew to raise anchor.

As they sailed away and the spoils were all piled up, he finally turned back to her. He pulled a knife out of his belt and slashed the ropes on her wrists, leaving her to untie the gag.

Marie had climbed down from the rigging and came rushing over to her.

"Are you all right?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah I'm fine." The words came out raspy and awkward; her mouth was dry from the gag.

"I can't believe he did that, threatening to kill you! I mean, it was-"

"It was a good plan." Alyssa said quietly, heading over to the growing group of pirates surrounding the goods. "It's better than fighting. No one got hurt." Marie agreed silently. Her sister was not one to appreciate being used. Not usually anyway…

Alyssa was surprised at how democratic the whole system was. Everyone got an equal share, no matter how much they actually did.

Two large piles were dumped at their feet. Ten bales of red and green cloth and gold now belonged to them. Marie knelt down to examine it, and Alyssa soon joining her.

"Everything satisfactory ladies?" Jack appeared once again before them, grinning broadly. They both nodded enthusiastically. The pirate held out a necklace, dangling it in front of Alyssa's face.

"Because you're such a good hostage." He dropped it in her hand, smirked, and walked off. She stared at it for a moment. Diamonds surrounded a medium sized sapphire. Marie peered over her shoulder to look at it.

"Think he's compensating for something?" Both of them broke into giggles.

---

This chapter was going to be up two days ago, but my stupid computer wouldn't let me access the internet :(

Just a little note and shameless pimping of a great artist, Marie's gun-happy persona is based on a picture of Freckle from the web comic 'Lackadaisy' by TracyJB. It is my inspiration. My profile has a link for a very fitting picture. GOVISTNOW

Reviews are scientifically proven to make me 120 happier.

Chicaga


	22. The Shirts

"I suppose it's true what they say about sailors and money." Marie looked around the street at all of the obvious sailors walking along with goods and drinks and women. Alyssa nodded in agreement.

They were like that now (except they had no drinks and no women), their arms laden with the things they bought with their share of the spoils. Only about half of their combined money was left now, and since neither of them could sew besides a bit of embroidery, the silks had been traded or sold.

But now they had an extra set of clothes, coats, boots, and a decent meal in their stomachs. They had never bought anything on their own before, much less with their own money. Independence was a wondrous thing indeed.

* * *

He thought that maybe now would be the time to have a little fun with her. Just a little thing really, to get her angry. No harm to that, right?

So he took her shirts. All of them. It really wasn't that hard, seeing as he had assigned them both jobs and had keys. Getting them up on deck was a whole other problem, but he managed to do it.

She'd have to come get them sometime, and then he'd be ready.

* * *

"God damn, where did they go?" Alyssa pulled apart the room, looking for the new shirts.

Marie had left to eat a moment ago, and she had stayed to change into cleaner clothes. But now they were gone.

She sat sunk down onto the ground in a huff. She tried to think of anywhere else they could be, but she distinctly remembered putting them in her trunk. So someone must have taken them.

Marie wouldn't have done it, no. She had her own. No one else was able to get into the room, seeing as Jack had given them the only keys…

Supposedly the only keys.

God, she was going to kill him.

She went quietly back up on deck, trying to act casual but failing due to her anger. It didn't matter anyways. Most everyone was out in town, and the one man on watch was dosing off. Jack wouldn't like that, she thought idly.

Jack was somewhere below, that much she knew, so she probably had just enough time to get in, get the shirts and get out.

She turned the knob, finding it strangely unlocked. She didn't think much of it. All the better for her.

The sight of the room made her groan. It would take forever to find anything in that place. She saw a suspicious looking pile near the back, and figured it was as good a place as any to start.

It had only been a minute when a lantern suddenly lit the room. She froze, hoping against hope that he wouldn't see her.

"I wouldn't think that that's a very good idea."

No such luck.

"I wouldn't think it's a very good idea to steal a lady's clothing." She didn't bother to turn around to look at him. He was probably leaning in the doorway like always anyway. She continued to look for the missing shirts.

"If you look at it from my point of view, it's a superb idea, actually." She rolled her eyes.

"Well it's not like you would get a chance to see me in such a situation."

"And why not?" She put on her most indignant look, stood, and turned to face him.

"Because-" The rest of the words got lost. She hadn't expected him to be so close. Not but a few inches away from her.

"Because why?"

Why couldn't she answer him? It was the simplest question, yet she couldn't think of a single word. He smirked at her loss, inching a bit closer.

"What's wrong, darling? Cat got your tongue?" He ran his hand along her cheek. She tried to stammer out a 'no' unsuccessfully.

"Maybe I could help you with that."

His lips descended on hers quickly, not giving her time to react. She felt herself go numb, then erupt in tingles. It felt good, if she looked at it subjectively. But it was Jack kissing her. God, even thinking his name felt good.

She found herself strangely reacting. Not pushing him away, like she was supposed to, but moving her own lips to work with his.

This was not right. She was _not_ supposed to be here, and she was _definitely_ not supposed to be liking this.

She pushed him away roughly.

They stared at each other, one in silent satisfaction and the other in horror. Finally he smirked and reached behind him.

He held out the shirts in mock politeness, bowing slightly.

"Your shirts, milady."

She grabbed them and clutched them towards herself, as if that would protect her. He stepped to the side, leaving a clear path to the door. She looked hesitantly between them, wondering if it was a trick. He raised his eyebrows at the amount of time it was taking for her to decide.

That was enough, and she stormed towards the door. He heard a mumbled 'bastard' as she passed by him, and smiled even more when she heard the door slam.

Why had he not thought of this earlier?

* * *

What in the world is this? Is this an update?! Holy crap it is!

But seriously folks.

It's been what, two months since I posted something? Who knows. There's been a lot of stuff going on in my life lately (that sounds so emo, lol), and my muse left me, but things have been clearing up. I'm sorry for making everyone wait for so long. But look! Kisses to speed the forgiveness!

Now everyone go glomp Charmed Angel because she's awesome : )


	23. Interlude

Hey everyone. I know that it's been a horribly looooong time since I updated, and I'm sorry, but I've been able to churn out nothing but drabbles that pertain nothing to the storyline for the longest time. I figured that I might as well post a few of them, so here they are.

* * *

Alyssa smiled, sneaking behind a large crate. She lowered herself down to the floor silently, spreading herself out to lay flat on the ground, and slid into a gap below a crate hoisted on top of some wood planks. It was tight, uncomfortable and terribly dusty, but she was determined to win.

This was a normal game for the crew. One of them challenged the other, and the challenger had to hide and see if the challenged could find them in less than fifteen minutes. Everything was open, no rules. The winner got one thing from the loser. The rest of the crew timed them, making bets.

Upon hearing of this game, Alyssa had immediately challenged a certain captain to the game before promptly running off below decks. There was no way he'd find her here, and finally he'd get what he deserved.

---

The crew watched in confusion as their captain played his end of the game. Well, maybe played was too strong of a word. At the moment he was sitting on a barrel in the corner, reading from a small book that was in his pocket.

Murmurs went through the crowd, placing bets on the young woman. Others were more prudent, knowing that Jack had to have some sort of idea up his sleep. Those of the group still didn't bet in his favor.

In a moment he looked up at the sun, and everyone went quiet. He pulled a pocket watch out of his coat, flipping it open. Nodding, he got up from the barrel and dusted himself. All eyes were on him as he strode casually towards the stairs that led below.

"Lass! It's been fifteen minutes! You win!" He stood away from the opening and waited.

In a few seconds there was a joyous whooping from down below and footsteps coming up the stairs. Alyssa emerged, triumphant smile on her face.

"See, I told you I would win this one. It just goes to show that you aren't the best at every-" She stopped when the Captain grabbed her by the upper arm. He flicked out the watch, showing her the time of 5:14. A slow grin spread across his face.

"Caught you."

* * *

"You missed a spot." Jack grinned down at her from his perch on a nearby barrel as he peeled an orange, throwing the rinds over the side. It was hard to tell, due to the blazing sun poised directly behind him. Dammit, how did he manage to wear that coat in this heat?

She grimaced back at him, straightening up to wipe sweat from her brow. Looking around, she couldn't find a spot that wasn't already scrubbed down thrice and wasn't gleaming. She turned back to him and was about to ask what in the world he meant and caught him squeeze part of the orange onto the deck in front of him. He shook the juice and pulp from his fingers, managing to get a few drops onto her face.

That was _it_.

She screamed profanities, long and hard. The crew stopped their work, came up from below decks. Her sister covered her ears and shook her head. Jack picked at his fingernails in boredom. It took a good five minutes for her to stop, chest heaving and face bright red. Jack's eyes flicked over to her and he smirked.

"Oh no, I don't think I can do _that_ to myself."

* * *

Thanks for reading :) Let me know if you like 


	24. Battle

She didn't tell Marie about the events of that night. Good Lord no. All that would happen then was a long, tricky conversation about whether or not she liked it, which would lead to whether or not she liked Jack which she most certainly did _not_.

Instead she kept it to herself and tried to act as normal as possible; which she admitted was fairly difficult.

And _he_ was another thing entirely.

There was absolutely no change in him or the way he interacted with her. For all she knew he had hit his head right after she had left and had forgotten everything that had happened. It annoyed the living daylights out of her. So much so that at times she wanted to kiss him again, scream 'remember that?!' and slap him right across the face.

What was even worse was that he had decided to use the same hostage trick for the last three raids. At least she was able to show her unhappiness without negative repercussion.

On the fourth raid, the plan didn't work so well.

She'd been a little shocked (and insulted) when the captain had yelled across that it was pointless to bring out 'the poor weepy female.' Apparently word from the taken ships had spread from port to port about there being a certain female on a certain ship that helped with their schemes.

For a moment she had felt Jack tense against her. She let her gaze drift to his face, and his eyes flicked to hers before he grinned. He let go of her, lifting his hands in submission.

"Knew it wouldn't work forever." He said, looking at her forlornly "Would have been nice though."

At that point swords were drawn and guns were cocked, and Jack made his final offer: surrender or battle. The fools chose battle of course.

In seconds the air was filled with yells, gunshots, and people swinging back and forth between the ships. In the same seconds Jack had untied and un-gagged her and thrust a sword into her hands. His hand fell heavily on her shoulder, shaking her into action.

"Remember what I taught you." His hand lifted and he bounded away, sword and pistol in hand. She was left behind, watching fights erupting all around her in shock. She hadn't planned on using a sword so soon. Or at all really, but she wouldn't admit that.

She nearly vomited when a man was stabbed not twenty feet away from her. The only thing that stopped her was another man charging towards her with a look on his face that told her that she would get no mercy because she was 'the poor weepy female.'

Alyssa managed to parry his blow just before it crashed into her face. Her arms wavered under the force he was putting into his attack. She remembered one thing Jack had told her: don't be afraid to fight dirty. She lifted her kneed with as much strength as she could, thrusting it up into the man's groin. He crumpled in front of her, and if it hadn't been for the circumstance, she might have laughed at his expression.

Instead she was forced to face someone else, someone who worked harder against her and knew well enough to keep his groin out of her knee's reach. With this person she was stuck parrying against his constant attacks, put constantly on the defense with no chance to strike back. She didn't even realize he was pushing her farther and farther back until the middle of her back hit the railing. She was suddenly overcome by a sense of panic. If he were to try to drive her farther back, she would fall backwards over the rail and into the water below. And she still couldn't swim.

With a sudden rush of adrenalin she closed her eyes and swung her arm out, not caring who or what she hit. All Alyssa knew was that her sword connected with something, and that something fell hard against her. The force nearly pushed her over the railing, but she managed to steady herself and push the weight off of her chest.

The weight ended up being the body of the man she was fighting, a huge gash across his stomach from which blood and various internal organs spilled forth onto the deck. He lay there, screaming in front of her with his arms wrapped around his middle. Finally, he coughed, splattering more blood about him, and stopped screaming.

Alyssa trembled, watching the red flow down the deck towards her. For a moment there was nothing. The sound of clashing metal was silenced, the swirl of moving bodies around her was stopped, and even the smell of gunpowder was gone. All that remained was blood. It filled her vision; made her dizzy and all she could think of was that she had to get away, anywhere just away from the corpse of her guilt.

In a flash of pain everything came roaring back. The first thing she felt was the deck under her head, and she saw someone stand over her. Her vision was blurry from the impact, but she caught a flash of blue coat and heard a gruff yell before they were gone.

Something- someone?- else was kneeling beside her then, talking to her, shaking her slightly. She didn't understand what they were saying, but they sounded calm. It didn't fit in with the surroundings she remembered, which were slowly coming back into view.

"-think you can move?" It was the first thing she's heard clearly, and she moved her eyes dully over to the speaker. Why wouldn't she be able to move? What had happened? She wished that her throat wasn't so tight and dry so that she could ask. She nods anyways.

The doctor – she could recognize him as such now- moved his arm behind her shoulders and put the other around her waist, muttering an apology. He tried lifting her, but the moment she got off the ground she felt a jolt of pain in her right side and screamed.

He set her back down again and told her that it would hurt for a few minutes until he had her moved somewhere else. She nodded absently, and wondered where this pain had come from and why she hadn't noticed it before.

Once again she was raised into the air, and with it came the sharp pain. She wa hurried somewhere in the doctor's arms, she couldn't imagine where. They were jostled a few more times, which made her cry out, but she bit her lip and tried not let tears fall.

Eventually the doctor put her down on something soft, a bed, she supposed, and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The doctor arranged pillows behind her head, and pressed a cloth to her side. He told her to hold it there until he got back. It burned and stung, making her grit her teeth.

The door closed behind him, leaving the room silent except for the stomping and yelling coming from above her. Despite the noise, she drift to sleep.

* * *

Hours later she lay with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, pressing the cloth to her side. The pain aches under the pressure, but she doesn't dare lessen it. The doctor had come back after the battle and had found her asleep and without the prescribed force to her side. He told her to press it down in a tone that recalled her old French nurse, and she obeyed.

Marie, unharmed, thankfully, was by her side, rubbing her back soothingly. Or at least it was probably meant to be soothing, but it only served to make Alyssa more anxious.

Her sister had apparently no qualms about the whole battle, and that surprised her. Alyssa had thought that she would handle this better than her older sister would, fancying herself to be the tougher of them. But then again, it wasn't like she thought that a real battle would have been like _that_. She shivered and Marie readjusted the blanket.

Jack entered from the makeshift infirmary across the hall, wiping his hands on a dirty looking cloth.

"How're you feeling?" His question comes out in a surprisingly soft tone.

"Horrible." She croaked in response. Marie dutifully passed her the jug of water by the bed, and she drank greedily. The pirate smiled grimly.

"You'll need to be more specific. What do you think is the worst?"

"She cut her side pretty badly. We have a compress on it right now." Marie answered for her, and she was grateful. Her headache made it painful to speak.

Jack hummed and called for the doctor. They spoke for a moment, in low tones that made it painfully obvious that the women weren't supposed to hear. The doctor gave them one last look and nod before leaving.

"Matthews says that you hit your head pretty hard, which means that you won't be working for a few days. And of course there's this thing." He motioned to the cloth on her side. "He says you'll need stitches."

Alyssa's breath hitched. From what he had heard (which wasn't much, but still), stitches could hurt more than the initial wound.

Jack pulled a chair closer to the bed, slowly unwrapping the blankets. She felt chilled as the layers were removed and shivered. He eyed the blood-soaked dress she was wearing for a moment, seemingly confused as to why she would be wearing it.

"You're going to have to take that off." She protested weakly. Call her stubborn, but she did not want to be naked in front of him. It didn't matter if he was seem subdued now, she had learned that might not stop him from 'taking advantage of the situation.'

Jack replied to her objections that he could get Matthews to do it, but while he was a good man, he was still a pirate and couldn't exactly be trusted to not take such and inviting opportunity. Alyssa remained silent, grudgingly admitting that he was the best choice. She at least trusted him to keep his hands to himself (somewhat) with her sister around.

He turned around as Marie helped her painfully remove her dress. The blood, both hers and that of her enemy, had dried around the wound and stuck to the skin. She had, fortunately, worn wrappings underneath her dress, though she was still more naked than she ever had been around a man. Marie chucked the dirtied dress into the corner before helping to fold the blankets around her to leave only her arms and side exposed.

Jack turned back towards them, taking a moment to rile her up by raking his eyes along her form. Her sister cleared her throat and glared, managing to pull his attention back to the task at hand. He pulled a chair over from the corner and examined the cut.

Jack's fingers traced the area around the wound, and her skin burned, but only partially from pain. The room was uncomfortably silent as he poked and prodded her side, then pulled a needle and thread out of her pocket. She saw Marie's jaw clench, her mouth setting into a firm line.

"I'll need you to hold her down." Alyssa tried to protest, but all that came out was a horribly pathetic sob. Jack stopped threading the needle to look over at her. He smiled kindly at her. "It's only a little thing; I wouldn't say more than five stitches. It won't be too bad, promise."

At the same time as he was speaking, Marie moved around her on the bed so that she could place her sister's head in her lap and lean down on her shoulders. Jack handed Alyssa a scrap of cloth, instructing her to chew on it. She did so, grimacing at the taste, unsure of why until he took some alcohol and rubbed it on her cut. She nearly screamed, except for the cloth.

"Make sure you keep that in your mouth; I've seen men bite their tongues off without it."

Her eyes slammed closed when she saw the needle, and she swooned as it was pressed to her skin. After that she didn't remember much.

* * *

Hey guys, remember me?

I know it's been a super long time, and I'm really sorry that I've been neglecting this fic. A lot of crazy stuff has been going on and I've been really blah about writing. I'm gonna try to write more, I'd really love to be able to finish this, but I make no guarantees. So if you're willing to stick around…enjoy!

Now if you'll excuse me, it is four AM and I am going to sleep :)

-chicaga


	25. Beaches

In the month after Alyssa was deemed healthy enough to work again, the work had piled on. They had run across a three-day thunder storm and had been forced to drop anchor on the closest island they could find. Camp had been set up on the beach with rain pounding on their backs and into their eyes. Afterwards they had sat in their cramped tents shivering with cold, their extra clothes nearly as wet as the ones they'd worn. Time was spent being miserable.

After two days when the clouds cleared and they were finally able to see more than three feet in front of them, they had set to work on repairing the worst of the damage done to the ship. The deck needed re-tarring, and more than a few ropes had been split by the wind. Jack decided that now would be as good a time as ever to scrape the hull, a job that sent most of the men groaning. The captain set them all right with frequent breaks and a steely glare.

Alyssa and Marie spent their free time exploring the island, finding it far more hospitable than they had first imagined. They didn't dare go too far into the forest lest they get lost or come across something less than friendly, but what they could see from the edges was enough for them.

The two of them were stretched out on the sand, enjoying a moment of sunshine and the crash of waves on the beach just a few feet away. Alyssa had found that she had tanned recently, her skin no longer the creamy white it used to be. Of course there were spots of it, across her stomach, thighs and upper arms, but the point remained that all visible skin had turned a light gold. She liked it.

Marie stirred suddenly beside her.

"I'm going back to the ship. I'll be back in a bit." She got to her feet hurriedly and stomped back through the sand. Alyssa thought a moment on her sudden departure before lying back, closing her eyes to the harsh sun. A minute later footsteps passed behind her and a shadow fell over her face.

"Did you change your mind?"

"Certainly not." Her eyes flew open at the decidedly masculine voice. Seeing Jack's face hovering above her, she yelped and tried to jump away, arms moving to cover herself as if naked. Jack gave a bark of laughter in response.

He walked around her to sit down next to her in the sand, leaning back on his hands. Having being startled into sitting up, Alyssa wrapped her arms around her knees, staring pointedly away from him. Silence stretched for a long moment.

"How's the hip?" He broke the silence, startling her out of her (admittedly empty) thoughts.

"Uh…fine now. It's pretty much healed I guess."

"Want me to check on it?" He flashed her a golden smile that made her cheeks heat. She wasn't able to reply honestly. "Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad."

She turned to look at him for the first time since he had arrived. "What?" Jack rolled over onto his side, propping his head on his hand to look at her.

"I kiss you once and you can barely stand to look at me. Either something went very, very wrong, or something went very, very right. That and you're also very shy."

"I am not!" She spat back at him, which only made his smile grow wider. She turned her head angrily away. Why did he always have to torment her like this? No doubt he already knew the answer to every question he wanted to ask her, so why did he bother? The only reason she could think of was that he got some sort of perverse enjoyment out of seeing her squirm.

"Ah well. You'll get over it." She snorted back at him, simply to have some sort of response. He hummed at her a moment, turning onto his back. "But really, how are you?" Jack sounded almost hesitant, and she looked at him quizzically. "Marie says ye haven't been well."

Now when had he been talking to Marie? And why was she jealous? She had, admittedly, found herself a bit distant since the battle, even with her sister. She was too busy thinking about the events of that day.

"Why do you ask?" She narrowed her eyes at him. Jack managed to shrug while lying down.

"Is it wrong to question the health of my crew?" Alyssa didn't have a response for that, since he was within reason. Silence reined for a beat as she considered how she would respond.

"I keep…" She hesitated, not sure if she even wanted to discuss it. "I keep thinking about that man. The one I killed." That was it. Now he was going to laugh at her, call her foolish for even caring. But no laughter was forthcoming. Instead there was a deep sigh.

"Everyone deals with it differently. You've been going about pretty well so far." He shuffled a little beside her to lean up on his elbows. His fingers played through the sand. "I think it's important to remember that he knew what he was getting into. Sure you're a woman and he probably underestimated you, but that doesn't mean you couldn't get a lucky blow. If he didn't know the danger, he shouldn't have been there. It was either you or him, and you won."

For some reason his words comforted her. It was almost nice to hear him trying to calm her. But that didn't mean she knew how to respond. A simple thank you didn't seem to be enough, but she didn't think she could say much more. Instead she nodded, though she wasn't sure that he could see.

Silence fell, and Alyssa slowly managed to relax. Her arms loosened, and she moved into a crossed legged position, looking out over the water. She even found that she was smiling a bit, just sitting there on the beach. Soon the sun grew higher in the sky, the heat beating down on them.

Jack groaned as he sat up, startling her. He glared at the sky as if that alone would convince the sun to turn it down. When that proved ineffective, he stood, peeling his shirt off in the process. Alyssa gasped at the sudden display.

"Wh…What are you doing?!" She covered her eyes with her hands and he looked at her in confusion.

"S'hot. Going swimming." Seeing her evasion, he grinned at her. "Care to join me?"

"Can't swim." She gritted out. How could he not remember, having almost drowned her once?

"Ah." His eyebrows knitted together, before he had a sudden idea. "Want to learn?"

From between her fingers, she gave him a look that said she thought he was crazy, but he simply extended a hand to her and wiggled his eyebrows. She had to smile at that, despite herself. So she took his hand and let him hoist her to her feet. She made sure to roll her eyes as he did so, just to make it look like she wasn't too excited.

When they got to the water, she found herself faced with another dilemma. Mainly that she was fully clothed, and preferred to stay that way. She debated this for a moment before remembering that after her last foray into 'swimming', she and Marie had begun wrapping their chests with strips of linen. She supposed that would be enough…coverage for now.

She took a tentative step into the water, found it refreshingly cool. Jack was already in up to his waist, staring out over the ocean ahead of him. Splashing hindered her stealthy approach, and he through a look at her over his shoulder.

"Well, I guess we should get started then." He dived away as soon as she was within reach. Alyssa groaned, trying to follow him without going completely underwater. Eventually she could only keep her face above water by standing on her toes.

Jack appeared out of the water not two feet in front of her, upsetting her delicate balance and causing her to slip underwater. Alyssa scrambled to get back to the surface, but her toes couldn't regain her footing. She was just about to panic when Jack's hands brought her back up. The man frowned at her while she gasped for air.

"You really don't know anything about swimming."

"You think?" She shot back breathlessly. Jack just clucked at her and grabbed her hands. He pushed himself farther away from her, dragging her along. Her head nearly slipped back below water, but he ordered her to kick and she managed to stay afloat.

They drifted out a little bit, Alyssa kicking after him even after he released her hands. Soon she was able to keep her head above water and swim some distance.

"That was awfully fast." He looked over at her in fake suspicion. "Sure you haven't done this before?" She snorted at him.

"You flatter me sir."

"Now why would I do that?" She gave an indignant screech before dunking him underwater.

* * *

Alyssa laughed breathlessly as she slogged out of the water, her clothes becoming heavy and sticking to her skin. Jack followed after her, shaking his head wildly like a dog.

"I can't believe you did that." Giggles escaped her as she stumbled over nothing towards where they had been lounging before entering the water. She considered sitting down before deciding against it. She didn't want to be covered in sand as well as wet.

"You started it. I warned you not to splash me." Alyssa scoffed at him and gave him a disproving look. Jack just shrugged, still grinning.

They stood there a moment, still breathing heavily as they looked back over the water. The wet shirt she was wearing quickly became cool and uncomfortable, and Alyssa didn't like the way that it clung to her curves.

Out of nowhere, Jack thrust his dry shirt at her. After a moment of stunned silence, she accepted.

"Uhm… could you..?" She gestured for him to turn around. Jack gave a long suffering sigh, but did as she had requested. Alyssa turned her back to him anyways, pulling the wet shirt off and replacing it with his dry one. She stopped a moment when she caught the smell on it: rum and oranges and sweat and something she didn't recognize. "I'm done."

Jack nodded in seeming approval of her new outfit, and she found that he had already put his boots back on, as well as all his other bits and pieces. Both properly put to rights, they returned to the ship and camp.

Just as they were in view, Alyssa grabbed Jack's arm. He stumbled a bit as he was pulled back, and fell right into a kiss on the cheek. No sooner had they connected than Alyssa whispered a thank you and ran off. Jack watched her retreating for a moment before he groaned. He kicked at the sand, and grumbled as he followed after her.

"Why couldn't we have done that before?"

Alyssa kept running till she got to camp, and even then she simply slowed to a hurried walk all the way to the tent she shared with Marie. Her sister was already waiting for her.

She scowled at Marie's bright smile as she began to strip out of her wet breeches.

"Don't you grin at me. I have yet to forgive you for abandoning me like that."

Marie nearly squealed.

* * *

Oh shiiit another chapter. Review are lovely :)

-Chicaga


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